Ready's 20 Points Not Enough In Loss To Lehigh

Friday, November 25

Starkville

7:00 PM

Mississippi State

3-2

Lehigh

2-2

Lehigh

Mississippi State

I.J. Ready had a game-high 20 points in the Bulldogs' 87-73 loss to Lehigh.

Ready's 20 Points Not Enough In Loss To Lehigh

November 25, 2016 | Men's Basketball

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STARKVILLE, Miss. – Playing its first contest without leading scorer Quinndary Weatherspoon, tMississippi State struggled in an 87-73 loss to Lehigh Friday night at Humphrey Coliseum.

Weatherspoon suffered a season-ending injury last weekend in the Gildan College of Charleston Classic. With Mississippi State back at home for the first time since that event, Lehigh (2-2) shot 51.5 percent from the floor and did not trail the final 29 minutes of play.

"(Weatherspoon) is our leading scorer and a great defensive player," MSU senior guard I.J. Ready said. "We are going to have to learn how to play without him. (Losing him) takes away a lot of what we have been trying to do. It's just on the other guys now to step up and lead more."

Ready led the Bulldogs with a season-high 20 points. Tyson Carter added 16 points, while Mario Kegler added 12 points, Lamar Peters added 11 points and Aric Holman added 10 points.

MSU (3-2) started strong offensively. The Bulldogs built a 15-10 lead on a basket by Carter. The lead was then 17-12 after another score from Carter.

Lehigh shifted to a zone defense and MSU struggled to find an answer. The Bulldogs went better than 10 minutes before their next field goal. A 6-0 Lehigh run ran the lead to 31-20.

A 3-point by Cater brought the Bulldogs within 36-29. Lehigh then led 38-29 at the intermission.
"The zone really bothered us," MSU coach Ben Howland said. "We stood around too much. We didn't take as many good shots as we need to take. We were slow to make some adjustments."

A 3-pointer by Lamar Peters brought the Bulldogs within 48-41 with 17:13 left. The Mountain Hawks then followed with a 10-2 run for a 58-43 advantage.

Two free throws by Eli Wright brought the Bulldogs within 58-48 with 13:08 left in the game. However, the Maroon and White could not get any closer the rest of the way.

For the contest, the Bulldogs hit 26 of 63 shots from the field (41.3 percent), 7 of 22 shots from 3-point range (31.8 percent) and 14 of 17 shots from the foul line (82.4 percent). The Mountain Hawks hit 34 of 66 shots from the field (51.5 percent), 11 of 26 shots from 3-point range (42.3 percent) and 8 of 8 shots from the foul line (100.0 percent).

Lehigh held a 39-32 rebounding advantage. The Bulldogs had eight assists and 10 turnovers, while the Mountain Hawks had 16 assists and 11 turnovers.

Lehigh placed six players in double figures. Kahron Ross and Kyle Leufroy each had 18 points for the Mountain Hawks. Austin Price added 14 points, while Tim Kempton added 13 points. Matt Holba and Pat Andree each had 11 points.
MSU will host Northwestern State at 6 p.m. Monday. The game will be televised nationally by the SEC Network.