STARKVILLE, Miss. - Junior forward Kodi Augustus scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to pace the 18th-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs to a 90-70 defeat of the visiting Georgetown College Tigers Saturday afternoon at Humphrey Coliseum.

Basketball Bulldogs Close Out Exhibition Play With 90-70 Victory

I'd start trashing the fact that ya'll gave up 70 points to our local Georgetown Tigers, but they are actually a NAIA powerhouse. They've given Louisville hell the past couple of years in exhibitions.....so no idea what you guys have taken away from the game...but the Tigers are a great basketball program.

I don't really take exhibition games into account. We play Rider this Friday night and it'll be my first look at the hoops team. Rider is actually a decent team (sub-100 RPI) so it should be interesting.

Also, we've got a very limited roster right now so we aren't really going to be full strength until SEC time.

Riek is suspended the first nine games (which by the way the NCAA said the exhibition games don't count in the suspension.. but they do for John Wall.. go figure), Bailey and Benock are hurt.. so we are short a few bodies but it should balance out in the end. We need a quality post backup behind V and Augustus.

What is Riek suspended for? I forgot already.

In the case of Wall he was specifically suspended for one exhibition game and on real game. That's why you saw him versus Clarion but won't for Morehead State.

"The university said the 7-foot-1 Sudan native must sit out nine games - or 30% of the season - before he can play. The NCAA found Riek received unspecified benefits before enrolling in college, potentially compromising his amateur status. Mississippi State compliance officer Bracky Brett the suspension is the maximum allowed under NCAA rules short of barring a player from competition."

Riek entered the NBA draft and got some teams to pay for his workout expenses or something. He had to pay back just under a grand and serve a nine game suspension.

As far as the Wall/Riek discrepancy, check the blog:

clarionledger.com | Jackson, MS PluckPersona | The Clarion-Ledger

Hmmm. W/out knowing any more about what these unspecified benefits, I really can't say anything one way or the other about his suspension or draw any comparisons between his situation and Wall's.

Edit: Just saw your post as I posted this. lemme read that blog.

Dude why the hell does it matter what the offense was? If exhibition games count in the suspension for one player, they should for another. It's a simple fact that the NCAA is the most inconsistent, unfair organization in the world. They protect the cash cows and that will always be. The SEC minus Alabama, Florida, LSU, Tennessee, Georgia should accept that in football and outside of basically Kentucky in basketball. Those teams will always get preferential treatment if they are in position to make a lot of money.

Edit: Just saw your most recent post. I guess ignore mine.

Bracky Brett has to win the best name for a compliance director contest.

Bracky's a cool dude. It is a joke though that Wall gets to count a game that doesn't officially count and Riek doesn't.

I got nothing. All homerism aside, I agree w/ya'll. And what I don't understand is if they're gonna let us play Wall in one exhibition game, why not the other as well? They are right, the situations are different, but again, it doesn't seem right to me. I'd have no problem sitting Wall out our first two real games. What can I say? The NCAA's a joke.

I was wondering where you were comin from there

Though to play devil's advocate a more serious legit offense would be different than what either Wall or Riek did to run afoul of the NCAA and would warrant a different punishment. In Wall's case, he's being suspended for his AAU coaches screw up....which is a whole 'nother thing alltogether.

a little consistency from the ncaa would be nice, but what do i know

i advocate treating teams fairly...i know, i know....me and my CRAZY ideas.

i dont take much from exhibition games...we will be fine...

but the reik/wall thing is just another instance where the ncaa makes $hit up as they go and compensate for letting big wigs off the hook but punishing the smaller guys more...this may not be totally true but when the powerhouses in each sport continually get treated with more leniency than others, something is wrong....KY & unc a few years ago in bball...usc in football, etc...oh well...