Mississippi State
6-1
UT Martin
1-5
No. 24 MSU Cruises Past Skyhawks, 76-50
November 25, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Led by big-man Wendell Lewis' first career double-double (11 points, 11 rebounds), State led from start to finish in its largest defeat of the season.
"It felt good to get recognized that way," said Lewis on his double-double performance. "I had fun playing ball tonight."
Rodney Hood started the scoring with a mid-range jumper, then senior Dee Bost followed it up with a bomb from three. State would jump out to a 13-point lead following a Lewis layup and a pair of scores from freshman DeVille Smith, including a rim-shattering dunk, to put an end to the first half.
Bost, Hood and Smith would continue the dominance into the second-half, keeping the Dogs in a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game. A Smith three with 13:50 remaining put the Dogs above the 20-point mark and seemingly end any threat of a Skyhawk comeback.
"I thought we played more efficient in the second-half," MSU coach Rick Stansbury said. "We shot 70 percent in the second-half, and we didn't turn the ball over. For the most part, I thought we played hard."
An alley-oop from Brian Bryant to Hood and another monstrous slam from Smith would be the final knockout punches, putting State up to its biggest lead at 30.
Along with out-rebounding its opponent for the seventh time this season in as many games, State also put up a season-high seven blocks. The Dogs also dominated in the paint, outscoring the Skyhawks 42-34.
For the game, State hit 32 of 54 shots from the field (59.3 percent), 4 of 16 from three (25.0 percent), and 8 of 17 from the charity stripe (47.1 percent). The Skyhawks shot 22 of 58 from the field (37.9 percent), 3 of 12 from long range (25.0 percent), and 3 of 7 from the foul line (42.9 percent).
To go with Lewis' impressive play, Bost and Hood scored a team-high 17 points. Smith scored 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting.
Dane Smith led in scoring from UTM, putting up 17 points on 7 of 11 shooting. Myles Taylor shot 5 of 9, scoring 12 points for the ballgame.
The Bulldogs are back on home against North Texas on Sunday, with tip set for 1:30 p.m.
