This column appears in the March 14 Daily Journal newspaper. Give your opinion with a comment below.

TAMPA, Fla. - Dee Bost remembers it too well. All those shots that wouldn't fall, including one that could have sent Mississippi State to a huge win over LSU when the teams met in Starkville on Feb. 11.

Instead, the Tigers held on for a 97-94 double-overtime victory. They would go on to win the Western Division. MSU would go on to lose five of six and drop to third in the division.

The memory makes Bost wince.

"I missed a lot of layups," he said after Friday's win over South Carolina. "I missed more than one."

Bost wasn't the only Bulldog to blow a big chance. Phil Turner and Jarvis Varnado had shots to win it. So many other opportunities were left on the floor, too.

Coach Rick Stansbury uses the word "heart-wrenching" every time he talks about that loss. It took a while for the Bulldogs to get over it - mentally, emotionally and physically.

Now, a chance for revenge: MSU and LSU meet at noon today in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament. A win for State, and all those bitter memories will be swept away.

Not only that, it'll greatly enhance the NCAA tournament rampésumampé the Bulldogs are trying to build.

With a pair of double-digit wins in the SEC Tournament, MSU is as hot as any team in the league. But the fact is, LSU is a matchup nightmare.

Stansbury ticked off the names of the Tigers' starters during Friday's postgame press conference;

- Marcus Thornton: "... can just manufacture baskets."

- Tasmin Mitchell: "... he's just a workhorse ..."

- Garrett Temple: "... one of the best defensive players in the league ..."

- Bo Spencer: "... can make shots right when you don't think he can ..."

- Chris Johnson: "... a shot blocker ..."

That last position, center, is the only place on the floor where MSU has a clear matchup advantage. Jarvis Varnado, State's 6-foot-9 junior, burned Johnson for 31 points in the last meeting.

Unfortunately for MSU, Mitchell scored 41. In the first meeting, Thornton, the SEC Player of the Year, rained 3-pointers en route to a 32-point effort. LSU won handily, 81-57, MSU's worst loss of the year.

"Besides being one of the most experienced, poised teams in the country," said Stansbury, "they don't rattle very easy. And they're put together well."

But with each game, MSU shakes off the handicaps that have held them back at times. The freshmen and sophomores are coming up big, that bout of fatigue near regular season's end has been overcome, and size isn't as much an issue with the recent play of Kodi Augustus and Brian Johnson off the bench.

And there's one other thing. As much as that double-OT loss hurt, it told the Bulldogs something. Something very important to remember when tipoff arrives today.

"That second game showed our whole team that they're not invincible," said Turner, "and if we play hard and play together, we have as good a chance of winning as they do."

Brad Locke (brad.locke@djournal.com) covers Mississippi State for the Journal and blogs daily at djbulldogs.wordpress.com.