Mississippi State players fight in stands

HONOLULU (AP) - Two players from Mississippi State's basketball team fought in the stands Thursday night between games at the Diamond Head Classic.

Sophomore forward Renardo Sidney and junior forward Elgin Bailey got into the altercation about 10 minutes before the tipoff of the game between tournament host Hawaii and Utah at the Stan Sheriff Center. Punches were thrown in the fight that lasted several minutes and was broken up by teammates.

Sidney was seen being escorted away by arena ushers and Honolulu Police, who said later that nobody was arrested.

Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury refused comment until he "finds out all the facts."

Sidney scored 19 points in the Bulldogs' 69-52 win over San Diego earlier Thursday while Bailey had two points.

Sidney, a highly touted McDonald's All-American out of Fairfax (Los Angeles) High, sat out all last season while awaiting clearance from the NCAA. He has appeared in just two games this season and scored 31 points with nine rebounds. Just this week, he was suspended by Stansbury for "conduct detrimental to the team" and was benched for the first-round game loss to Washington State on Wednesday.

Bailey has started 10 of the 11 games this season and is averaging 6.2 points and 3.9 rebounds.