Comeback Effort Falls Short for No. 15 Men’s Hoops

Monday, November 19

Las Vegas, Nev. (T-Mobile Arena)

10:00 PM

Mississippi State

3-1

Arizona State

4-0

Mississippi State

Arizona State

Photo by: Trevor Birchett/MSU Athletics

Comeback Effort Falls Short for No. 15 Men’s Hoops

November 20, 2018 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

by Caleb Garner, Graduate Assistant/Communications

LAS VEGAS – A fierce second-half surge by No. 15 Mississippi State tied the game with a minute left, but Arizona State scored seven of the last nine points to claim a hard-fought 72-67 decision in the semifinals of the MGM Resorts Main Event from T-Mobile Arena.

The Bulldogs (3-1) will look to regroup against Saint Mary's during Wednesday's third place matchup. Tip time is set for 7:30 p.m. CT, and the game will be streamed online via subscription courtesy of BD Global at https://hailst.at/MSUvsSMC1121.

Facing as much as an 18-point deficit late in the first half, the Bulldogs made the necessary halftime adjustments to battle back in the second half. Mississippi State outscored the Sun Devils (4-0) by a 43-33 margin.

Aric Holman piled up his second double-double on the young season. He finished with a game-high 22 points on a 9-of-15 shooting effort and hauled down 10 rebounds. Holman pumped in 16 of his 22 after intermission. He also secured two blocks and two steals. The 22 points was the second-highest scoring output of his career.

Nick Weatherspoon chipped in 13 points and four rebounds working around foul trouble for most of the night, while Quinndary Weatherspoon tacked on 12 points and four assists.

Lamar Peters added eight of his 10 points during the second half and handed out a team-leading six assists against one turnover. Abdul Ado garnered five rebounds, three blocks and two points.

Off the bench, Robert Woodard II came away with six points, four rebounds and two steals.

The Bulldogs edged out Arizona State by a 16-14 margin in second-chance points and a 28-26 advantage in paint points.

FROM THE BENCH WITH COACH HOWLAND
"I was proud of the way that we fought back in the second half. We had a good run to start the half, but you have to spend a lot of energy to come back. Fight and toughness was the difference for us in the second half. We'll bounce back and learn from this game."

"The first half was a knock in the mouth. We were beaten on the boards by 15 in the first half. We had way too many perimeters shots. 30 three's out of a total 69 shots is way too many. Obviously, we have to play more out of the post. We were way too rushed and impatient on offense in the first half. Their size bothered us. It was a tough matchup for our smaller guard lineup. We were beat badly in transition, and our foul trouble hurt us in the first half. Credit Arizona State, they're a good team."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The Bulldogs used an early 9-0 run to take an 11-6 lead with 14:15 remaining. Nick Weatherspoon ignited the spurt with a 16-footer at the top of the key. A three-pointer by Quinndary Weatherspoon from the right wing capped the run.

Mississippi State held a 17-16 edge at the 7:39 mark. The Sun Devils got going in transition and ripped of a 23-4 run that covered six minutes to send Arizona State to a 39-21 advantage.

The Bulldogs trailed 39-24 at halftime and came out of the locker room with a 10-point flurry to slice the deficit down to five points. Holman provided seven points, and Peters rattled home at triple on the right baseline to make it 39-34 with 18:27 left.

Arizona State responded with an 8-0 spurt of its own to push the spread back to 13 points at 47-34 with 16:38 remaining.

Not deterred, a better effort on the boards helped the Bulldogs claw back into the contest.

Nick Weatherspoon drained back-to-back treys, and Mississippi State was back within four at 51-47 after a Holman dunk at the 11:36 mark.

Another Nick Weatherspoon jumper tied the contest at 65-65 with 61 seconds to go.

The Sun Devils answered with a Kimani Lawrence three-ball on the ensuing possession. Mississippi State attempted an equalizer with Holman that rimmed out with 17 seconds left.

Arizona State sank a pair of free throws, and Lawrence added a dunk off a press breaker to bring the final tally to 72-67.

For the contest, the Bulldogs hit 25-of-60 shots from the field (36.2 percent), 8-of-30 shots from 3-point range (26.7 percent) and 9-of-10 shots from the foul line (90.0 percent). The Sun Devils hit 26-of-58 shots from the field (44.8 percent), 7-of-17 shots from 3-point range (41.2 percent) and 13-of -18 shots from the foul line (72.2 percent).

Arizona State held a 40-34 rebounding advantage. The Bulldogs had 16 assists and 10 turnovers, while the Sun Devils had 15 assists and 12 turnovers.

Arizona State received 22 points from Lawrence, 17 points and nine rebounds from Luguentz Dort, 16 points and seven assists from Remy Martin and 12 points and nine rebounds from Zylan Cheatham.

UP NEXT
Mississippi State will square off with Saint Mary's to conclude the MGM Resorts Main Event on Wednesday. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT which will be streamed online via subscription courtesy of BD Global at https://hailst.at/MSUvsSMC1121.

Visit www.HailState.com for the latest news and information on the men's basketball program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets by searching 'HailStateMBK' on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.