Mississippi State
7-6
Florida State
8-6
MSU Stuns Florida State With Impressive Second-Half Effort
January 03, 2015 | Men's Basketball
STARKVILLE, Miss. – With four minutes left Friday night, Mississippi State sophomore guard I.J. Ready gathered his teammates and said, “time to finish.”
The Bulldogs then did just that.
Playing its most complete game of the season, Mississippi State shot 46.2 percent from the floor and led for most of the second half in an impressive 62-55 win against Florida State at the Humphrey Coliseum.
“It is all about energy,” Ready said. “The last couple of home games, we hadn't played with the energy we need to have to win. We had some meetings (after a loss to McNeese State). The team had gotten apart. We got everybody back together and played with the type of energy we need to have.
“Where we were as a team was not acceptable because we are better than that.”
MSU (7-6) did not trail after taking a 40-39 lead with 10:48 left on a layup by Roquez Johnson. The Bulldogs only committed three turnovers in the second half and hit all 11 free throw attempts in the final half.
“The reality is we are a good basketball team,” MSU coach Rick Ray said. “I told the guys before the game that this was a game on national television against a really good team from the (Atlantic Coast Conference). This was an opportunity to show everybody what we are capable of.
“The guys needed that win. The coaching staff needed that win. Bulldog Nation needed that win.”
Ray also noted two key statistics – a 40-26 MSU advantage in the paint and a 24-8 advantage in bench points.
MSU built an early 8-3 lead. The Bulldogs held the Seminoles to one field goal over the first eight minutes as the home team held a 10-4 lead.
Back-to-back baskets by Gavin Ware and Ready ran the MSU advantage to 16-11. The lead was a first-half best at six after a Fred Thomas 3-point basket made it 19-13 with 6:21 left in the half.
Florida State (8-6) ended the half on a 9-0 run to take a 25-22 lead at the intermission.
The lead swung back and forth several times in the early stages of the second half. FSU took its last lead at 39-38 with a basket from Montay Brandon. The Seminoles' largest lead in the half was five points.
Johnson took the lead back for good for the Bulldogs 28 seconds later. A 3-pointer by Travis Daniels capped a 5-0 run and ran the lead to 47-41 with 7:01 left in the contest.
Florida State battled back for a 49-49 tie. Craig Sword hit two free throws to break the tie for the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs' final six points came at the foul line.
For the contest, the Bulldogs hit 24 of 52 shots from the field (46.2 percent), 2 of 14 shots from 3-point range (14.3 percent) and 12 of 13 shots from the foul line (92.3 percent). The Seminoles hit 19 of 43 shots from the field (44.2 percent), 6 of 14 shots from 3-point range (42.9 percent) and 11 of 19 shots from the foul line (57.9 percent).
Florida State held a 30-28 rebounding advantage. The Bulldogs had seven assists and 12 turnovers, while the Seminoles had 10 assists and 19 turnovers.
Ready was one of three Bulldogs in double figures with a game-high 14 points. Travis Daniels added 12 points and Gavin Ware scored 10 points. Ware also had a game-high eight rebounds.
Florida State received 16 points from Devon Bookert and 12 points from Xavier Rathan-Mayes.
MSU begins Southeastern Conference play by welcoming Tennessee to Humphrey Coliseum Wednesday at 8 p.m. on the SEC Network.
