By By Tony Krausz/assistant sports editor
March 21, 2004
ORLANDO, Fla. Call it basketball karma. Call it a reminder to Mississippi State University that upsets are always right around the corner. Call it just dumb luck.
When the Bulldogs (26-3) tip off at 11:10 a.m. today in the second round of the NCAA tournament against Xavier (24-10), they will be seeing the face of the player that knocked MSU out of last season's Big Dance' Brandon Miller.
The Butler guard, who hit a runner in the lane with 6.2 seconds left to propel his team to a 47-46 first-round win over MSU last season, is on Xavier's coaching staff.
Miller is in his first year as the Musketeers' video and equipment intern.
Miller finished with a team-high 14 points against MSU in the opening-round win last year.
It was the second straight year, the Bulldogs were upset in the tournament by a lower-seeded opponent.
The sixth-seeded Texas Longhorns in the second round ousted MSU from the 2002 tournament. The Bulldogs were the No. 3 seed in the Midwest Regional.
Butler was a No. 12 seed when it defeated MSU, a No. 5 seed, last year.
MSU head coach Rick Stansbury had to have Miller pointed out to him by reporters. Once the coach saw last year's hero from the Cinderella team, he quipped, "I hope we don't have to guard him this year."