Weatherspoon's Career-High 27 Points Propels MSU To WIn

Thursday, December 22

Starkville

6:00 PM

Mississippi State

8-3

Morehead State

3-9

Morehead State

Mississippi State

Quinndary Weatherspoon had a career-high 27 points in MSU's 85-76 win against Morehead State.

Photo by: special to HailState.com

Weatherspoon's Career-High 27 Points Propels MSU To WIn

December 22, 2016 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Official Stats (PDF)Official Stats Postgame Video

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Mississippi State erupted for 54 second-half points to knock off Morehead State 85-76 Thursday night at Humphrey Coliseum.

Quinndary Weatherspoon paced the Bulldogs (8-3) with a career high 27 points. I.J. Ready added 19 points while Aric Holman added 12. Holman also had six rebounds and three blocked shots. Mario Kegler had a team-high seven rebounds.

"I'm pleased that we were able to fight back after being down 10," MSU coach Ben Howland said. "We came out flat, and Morehead State gets a lot of credit for that. A year ago, they won 23 games but they have had a coaching change during the season so they have been going through some things.

"We struggled offensively in the first half not being able to attack their switching man-to-man. In the first half, we had the ball in the front court 33 times and we passed it three times or less 22 times. That is a recipe for disaster on the offensive end."

Morehead State shot 57.1 percent from the floor in the first half and led 41-31 at halftime.

"We knew we had to pick up our intensity, and we knew what is how we would win the game," MSU sophomore forward Aric Holman said. "Nobody was really down because we just we knew had to play better on defense. If we played well on defense, the offense would come."

A 7-0 run by Morehead State lifted the Eagles to an 18-14 lead. The Eagles led the rest of the way in the first half, building the lead to 10 at 35-25 with 4:20 left in the half.

A dunk by Holman ended a 7-0 run and brought the Bulldogs within 45-44 with 16:30 left in the contest. Tyson Carter then rammed home a 3-point basket to give MSU a 49-48 lead two minutes later.

A jumper by Weatherspoon ran the lead to 52-48 with 12:58 left. The Bulldogs ran the lead to five but the Eagles pulled even at 58. The teams were again tied at 60 before some great defense sparked a 9-2 run as the Bulldogs took control for good.

An offensive rebound by Holman led to a layup from Weatherspoon and a 69-62 lead. The duo again hooked up later with Weatherspoon getting the steal and assist on a basket by Holman. The Bulldogs hit their final six free throws to seal the win.

"In the second half, we really fought back defensively," Howland said. "I.J. and Q were great in the second half. They gave us some great leadership. That was a good, hard-fought win."

For the contest, the Bulldogs hit 31 of 58 shots from the field (53.4 percent), 5 of 20 shots from 3-point range (25.0 percent) and 18 of 29 shots from the foul line (62.1 percent). The Eagles hit 28 of 56 shots from the field (50.0 percent), 9 of 19 shots from 3-point range (47.4 percent) and 11 of 13 shots from the foul line (84.6 percent).

Morehead Stated held a 32-30 rebounding advantage. The Bulldogs had 10 assists and five turnovers, while the Eagles had 10 assists and 16 turnovers.

Morehead State (3-9) received 22 points from Xavier Moon, 20 points from Lamontray Harris and 10 points from Jordan Walker.

MSU returns from Christmas break with a 7 p.m. start against UMKC on Dec. 29. That contest will close MSU's non-conference schedule and will be available on SEC Network+.