VALDOSTA, Ga. - Valdosta State looks to close out 2014 with a win as the Blazers travel to Clinton, Miss. to face Mississippi College Saturday at 5:00 p.m.
The Blazers are coming off of a 74-71 victory at Delta State Thursday evening and look to even their Gulf South Conference record at 3-3 against the Choctaws. In addition to their current 2-3 mark in league play, the Blazers are 7-4 on the season.
Valdosta State turned in one of its better defense performances of the year Thursday as it recorded 16 steals while forcing 22 DSU turnovers. On the season, VSU averages 9.7 steals per game and is forcing opponents into more than 17 turnovers an outing, numbers that have off-set the fact that foes are shooting better than 46 percent from the floor. Meanwhile, Valdosta State continues to improve its offensive output as the Blazers are shooting 46.4 percent from the floor in their last three outings and are now up to 42.8 percent on the year.
Blake Justice currently leads VSU in scoring at 13.5 points per outing as the junior tallied 24 points against the Statesmen Thursday evening. Justice converted all eight of his free throw attempts in the game, brining his streak of consecutive successful attempts to 13, and is shooting 93.1 percent from the charity stripe on the season.
James Spencer adds 13.3 point and 6.8 rebounds a game while
Jeremiah Hill, who leads the VSU squad with 28 steals on the year, is averaging 11.4 points a game.
Mississippi College is in its first year transitioning back to the NCAA Division II ranks, from Division III, and is 3-4 on the season. The Choctaws have gone 1-4 in GSC play in the early going, including a 78-60 victory over West Florida Thursday for the school's first victory in GSC action since the 1995-96 season.
Like Valdosta State, MC is a strong defense teams that relies on turnovers and steals to create offense. The Choctaws force 18 turnovers a game and average 9.3 steals an outing, but have also been hampered by turnovers as they commit 17.6 per game. Mississippi College averages 74.7 points a game and shoot better than 46 percent from the field, but allow foes to shoot nearly 50 percent.
Junior forward Tory Rice leads the MC squad as he averages 16.0 points and 9.0 rebounds a game while shooting 57.8 percent from the field. He is one of two Choctaw players to average double figure points as Johnny Rucker adds 14.6 an outing while shooting 50.0 percent as a guard.
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