Peters Clutch In Win Against Panthers With 24 Points

Sunday, December 4

Starkville

4:00 PM

Mississippi State

6-2

Georgia State

4-3

Georgia State

Mississippi State

Lamar Peters had a career-high 24 points Sunday in MSU's 82-60 win.

Peters Clutch In Win Against Panthers With 24 Points

December 04, 2016 | Men's Basketball

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STARKVILLE, Miss. – When Mississippi State needed a spark, Lamar Peters was glad to assist.

The freshman guard from New Orleans came off the bench to ignite an offensive explosion as the Bulldogs (6-2) posted an impressive 82-60 win against Georgia State (4-3) Sunday at Humphrey Coliseum.

Peters tallied a game-high 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting, while draining 6 of his 9 shots beyond the arc. He was one of three players with career highs in scoring, as Mario Kegler posted 16 points and Schnider Herard 8.

"I just wanted to go out and let the game come to me," said Peters, who also dished out 4 assists. "I was just making my open shots and just taking my time while knocking them down."

His play was instrumental in the first half, when he reeled off 14-straight points to turn a 16-10 deficit into a 28-all tie with 6:14 to play.

Two possessions later, Quinndary Weatherspoon drained a 3-pointer for a 31-30 lead, one the Bulldogs never relinquished.

Weatherspoon finished with 14 points to go along with his 3 assists and 4 steals. Also in double-digit scoring was I.J. Ready with 11 points and 5 rebounds. He also had 1 steal to give him 11 in his last three games.

"I'm really proud of our team," MSU coach Ben Howland said. "Georgia State is a really good team. When I watched film on them, I saw that they had Purdue down 13 points with 7 minutes to go, and Purdue found a way to come back and win.

"Lamar Peters played incredible today and really gave us a lift in the first half when we were struggling."

MSU went into the break up 44-36 and pushed the lead to 55-40 on a monster dunk by Aric Holman. The lead swelled to as many as 23 points at 71-48 on a layup by Peters with 8:26 left.

Mississippi State, which is off until Dec. 14 when East Tennessee State visits the Hump, was 31-of-66 shooting, while making a season-high 13 3-pointers. The Panthers were 25-62, 6-19 from long range.

Both teams had 37 rebounds. MSU forced 18 turnovers while collecting 9 steals and dishing out 17 assists.