Marcus Fitzsimmons made the trip to Clinton, Miss., yesterday with his sights set on seeing a key American Southwest Conference showdown. Hilarity ensues. Or something.

The Warm Up …
It’s 4 a.m. Wednesday morning and my nerves about traveling to Mississippi College for the night’s ASC conference game with McMurry have me awake. I suddenly empathize with a slew of coaches I’ve heard utter the cliche, “they keep me up at night.”

Traveling for Hoopsville I won’t take the court in the Golden Dome of Clinton, Miss so it’s not performance anxiety. But my flight plans are all crossed up by some confusion over a.m. and p.m. and I’m worried that I may not make the games at all as I’m either going to get lucky going standby or arriving at 11 p.m. for a 5 p.m. tip.

Giving up on getting any more meaningful sleep I down another dose of cold medication, find my shower and layer up to drive to Alcoa and the airport. It’s raining and low 40’s with snow up in the Smokies as I walk into the terminal. Luck is with me. The ticket agent understands my dilemma and thankfully the stand by status has not changed since my phone call the night before. By 7 a.m. I’m having a Ron White moment on a puddle jumper to Charlotte. If something goes wrong the pilot won’t have to use a microphone to let us know.

With three hours to kill in the E terminal and a FoxSports Restaurant offering multiple screens there’s no doubt where to roost for the long layover. A text informing my favorite red head that I did get booked through and that I might live through this cold after all gets sent. Then it’s a phone call ahead to let MC SID Chris Brooks know when I will be arriving in Jackson before breakfast – feed a cold – arrives.

Alternating between a final edition of The Daily Times and cable news it becomes clear that I didn’t miss much overnight. I spend a moment smirking to reread the capsule on Kentucky’s fourth consecutive loss. The Wildcat Blues are killing our latest crime reporter at the paper.

Deboarding in the Jackson-Evers International Airport I’m trying hard not to laugh as the Jeff Foxworthy sketch about flying into this very airport runs through my head. I can’t swear the second puddle jumper didn’t spray crops on the final approach. The feeling subsides instantly as I realize that a) I forgot to ask Chris what car to look for at arrivals and that b) while I expected Mississippi weather to be milder than Maryville it’s a good 50 degrees warmer than it was when I was last outside.

Fortunately David, the graduate assistant for the sports information office, spots me before I melt. A quick stop by the hotel to drop bags, drop another dose of cold medicine, shed some layers of clothing and we’re on the way to the A. E. Wood Coliseum the dome home of the Choctaws.

Turns out David is from Memphis and wants to know the latest from UT, which takes most of the ride with the speculation surrounding Vol assistant football coach Trooper Taylor and the first home game for J.P. Prince just hours away.

Finally at Mississippi College my nerves about missing the games are now settled. I’m here. Let the hoops begin.

Talk some basketball with Chris and then decide since I have plenty of time to plop down in the Dome and work for a little while. I’ve heard about this place, but have never been able to make the trip. It’s where Maryville College’s postseason has ended in the second-round for the last three years – always to the Choctaws. While I’m far from a homer Maryville coach Randy Lambert and his program have earned my respect as a solid team since I took this beat. This is the gateway to the Sweet 16 for the midsouth that until now I’ve only heard described on the radio and seen on webcast, neither of which give you the feel of a campus and its gym.

The good news I hear is McMurry is supposed to have a good player making his debut. The bad news is that All-American Tarra Richardson is injured so I won’t get a follow up game to compare to her Thanksgiving performance. Also my joke on Hoopsville about a Santa hat has been partially fulfilled, so I have red head gear for game time that while minus a basketball does have my name on it.

No. 10 HOLDS ON
The teams are warmed up and while Richardson did shoot around, her tweaked ankle is going to keep her from this game.

Coach Veronica Snow thinks a game without the All-American forward with be a good test for her Top Ten team that remains without a mascot this season.

After 40 game minutes the coach may have found some more inspiring news in her team’s 70-67 ASC win. Maigen Sawyer broke out of a 29 percent slump to hit all four of her trey attempts on the way to 18 points. Back-to-back trifectas by the senior put McMurry up 37-35 after the Choctaws had led by four at the break. Allison Nelson explodes for 19 points, a dozen above her average as the no mascot offense adjusts and executes much better than I’d seen during Thanksgiving.

Mississippi College had opportunities but couldn’t convert the go-ahead run late after leading all but two minutes of the first half. Down by 10 with 3:46 to go MC cut the margin to 64-62 before McMurry pulls back away. A late trey by Anna Patterson gave MC light with 14 seconds left but McMurry added one at the charity line, where the team struggled to 18 of 30 while MC’s 19-for-23 kept them in the lead the first half.

I’m greatly impressed with McMurry’s ability to win on the road minus Richardson. The team still looked a bit lost at times but overall they are a much improved from the squad that lost to Birmingham Southern with the star in foul trouble. The no mascots are definitely in the conversation for me, but with 20-plus conference games preventing any more head-to-head comparison with the other region powers the seeding is all on ASC play.

WHO ARE THESE GUYS?
I get company in my ringside seat as Coach Mike Jones comes over with his special guest – his cardiologist and the doctor’s son. The head coach recovering from heart surgery is behind the scorer’s table for his second game and is under orders not to yell. We chit chat briefly about how some teams are looking but his attention is all on the floor as soon as the player introductions end. In deference to the coach and the light crowd on what must be the first Wednesday night game in a decade for MC I leave the bright red D3 Santa hat on the table and unworn.

McMurry is much more than its 3-5 record indicates. All the losses have come in conference and all have been close. Even more surprising to me is to find Travis Tennyson back on the former Indians roster. The 6-foot-7, 300-and-then-some post shows his rust in his second game back with his former school. Two seasons ago he was an all-conference performer but he’s carrying some weight now. The big man can still move and while he’s held in check by Mississippi I can’t help but wonder how much bigger a factor he might be by conference tournament time.

Jones takes his notes to the locker room but it’s obvious he and current assistant (former head coach) Don Lofton are on the same page from slightly different directions.

The Choctaws prevail in a 85-74 decision that puts them into a tie for first in the ASC East with LeTourneau. The roster is barely recognizable from the Sweet 16 team that lost to Va. Wesleyan nine months ago.

Under the direction of Lofton MC is showing signs of growth after a conference opening loss to Mary Hardin-Baylor. Three players from last season are still in the first 10 rotation of the Choctaws five-at-a-time sub-system. Blending in are five junior college transfers and two freshmen.

It’s obvious from the start that this MC team while smaller is much faster and carrying a lot more offensive force. Junior Bryan Johnson and senior Tyler Winford both stand out as the lean fast posts that can not only bang but fall away or step out to drive or shoot.

Clarence Jeffrey may be the best leaper I’ve seen this season. When he’s focused there isn’t a rebound he doesn’t take from taller players.

But uncharacteristically of an MC team defense is not the glue. These Choctaws will be learning the defensive lessons during the season rather than leading the nation in scoring defense but they have the luxury of a multitude of scoring options that should allow them to learn against most competition with a win.

CALL IN SHOW
After the teams shake hands I circulate the floor picking brains and having mine picked. The staff is as interested in the midsouth and eastern side of the region as I am in the west. David is once again tapped as chaueffer and we head to the hotel as McMurry begins a 9-hour ride home that will put them on campus after sun up to scatter for the holiday break.

It’s at this point I tell David that he may be able to get an early start on a drive to his home in Memphis as my 6:10 a.m. flight means he’ll be picking me back up in a less than six hours. A dose of cold cure and I’m out with my alarm set but lap top open. I find I went down mid-sentence when I stir awake not long enough later.

Good as his word the guy chasing his MBA at MC meets me at the lobby door at 4:50 in the OMG it’s early. At the airport I bid him farewell and wish him luck for the post-Christmas trip to Hampden-Sydney.

The airport security line stretches almost the length of the lobby and I know I’m in trouble even with an hour to wait. Arrive at the gate at 6:12 with two other passengers bound for Charlotte only to see the door to the plane close. The pilot waves as he pulls the plane away. Take a minute to put belt back on and slip back into the shoes I carried in my sprint from the security station. With no other option rebook a flight home and the fortune of the fates that got me here with no delay now spins back as I will now spend the next six hours waiting on the next flight out of Jackson International.

Decide to edit my travelblog and delete the long line of random characters I hit in my sleep. Find a strange reference or two that I blame on the cold medicine and then delete.

Text the favorite red head to cancel our planned afternoon Christmas shopping. Decide to also text the newbie in the sports department and give him fair warning I won’t be back for the afternoon news meeting and that he’ll be covering. It would be more fun to panic him with 10 minute notice of it but it’s the holidays after all.

Despite the bumps it’s been a great trip and some good basketball. MC has been a great host and I can’t help but think I will see the Choctaws and the Lady No Mascots again in a few months provided I ever work my way back through the security line and get out of Jackson.

Marcus Fitzsimmons covers Maryville College, the USA South and Great South for The (Maryville/Alcoa) Daily Times and can be heard doing the South Region report on Hoopsville Sunday nights. Send him tips, travel advice or homemade cold remedy recipes at marcus.fitzsimmons@thedailytimes.com