Tennessee Pulls Away From Bulldogs For 91-74 Win

Saturday, January 21

Knoxville, Tenn.

5:00 PM

Mississippi State

12-6, 3-3SEC

Tennessee

10-9, 3-4SEC

Mississippi State

Tennessee

Schnider Herard had a double-double in MSU's loss at Tennessee.

Tennessee Pulls Away From Bulldogs For 91-74 Win

January 21, 2017 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Official Stats Official Stats (PDF)Postgame Press Conference

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Mississippi State could not continue the road magic Saturday night, falling to Tennessee 91-74 at Thompson-Boling Arena.

The Bulldogs won their first two conference road games, however, the road magic ended after Tennessee collected a plus-14 rebounding advantage and shot 41.2 percent from 3-point range to pull away in the second half.

The 91 points allowed were the most given up by the Bulldogs in a game this season. MSU also forced a season-low seven turnovers on defense.

"They were more physical than we were and that was obvious from the beginning," MSU coach Ben Howland said. "We allowed too many post catches right inside. Schnider and Eli Wright were the only two giving us a solid effort on glass.

"We weren't patient on the offensive end. That doesn't mean we took bad shots. However, we didn't do a great job of attacking the goal. Our foul trouble hurt us. Our inability to get back down the floor in transition hurt us."

Schnider Herard collected his first double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Maroon and White. Also in double figures were Quinndary Weatherspoon and Lamar Peters each with 11 points and Mario Kegler with 10 points. Wright had five rebounds.

Tennessee held a slight lead throughout the first 10 minutes of the first half. A 3-point play by Weatherspoon gave the Bulldogs their first lead at 18-17 with 9:51 left in the half. The lead switched hands a couple of times before Tennessee used a 7-0 run to build a 25-20 lead.

A dunk and follow-up layup by Herard ran out the first half and brought the Bulldogs within 37-34 at the break. The Volunteers led in large part due to 12 first-half offensive rebounds.

In the second half, the Bulldogs grabbed a 38-37 lead on a basket by Herard and dunk by Aric Holman. Tennessee would reclaim the lead for good and then stretch the lead to 52-42 on a 9-0 run with a 16:02 left in the contest.

The Bulldogs would later close within six before a 6-0 run pushed the lead back into double digits for the remainder of the contest.

For the contest, the Bulldogs hit 26 of 59 shots from the field (44.1 percent), 5 of 20 shots from 3-point range (25.0 percent) and 17 of 28 shots from the foul line (60.7 percent). The Volunteers hit 31 of 67 shots from the field (46.3 percent), 7 of 17 shots from 3-point range (41.2 percent) and 22 of 37 shots from the foul line (59.5 percent).

Tennessee held a 49-35 rebounding advantage. The Bulldogs had 11 assists and 11 turnovers, while the Volunteers had 20 assists and seven turnovers.

Tennessee placed four players in double figures. Robert Hubbs III had 19 points to lead the Volunteers. Grant Williams added 17 points, while Admiral Schofield had 15 points and Jordan Bowden had 14 points.

MSU hosts Missouri at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The contest will be shown nationally from the Humphrey Coliseum on the SEC Network.