Carter's 35 Points Pushes MSU Past The Bison

Thursday, November 30

Starkville

6:00 PM

Mississippi State

6-0

North Dakota State

3-4

North Dakota State

Mississippi State

Tyson Carter had a career-night against NDSU with 35 points in MSU's win.

Carter's 35 Points Pushes MSU Past The Bison

November 30, 2017 | Men's Basketball

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STARKVILLE, Miss. – Tyson Carter earned Hoops of the Heartland co-Most Valuable Player honors after scoring 35 points to lead Mississippi State to an impressive 83-59 win against North Dakota State Thursday night at Humphrey Coliseum.

Carter scored the most points in a game by an MSU player since Arnett Moultrie scored 34 points against UMass in the 2012 National Invitational Tournament. The former Starkville High standout did his work on a 12 of 17 night from the floor, including a 6 of 10 night from 3-point range. He was also5 of 5 from the free throw line with six rebounds.

It was the 21^st time an MSU player scored 35 or more points in game.

"After that first shot went down, I felt like I could have a big night," Carter said. "It goes back to my hard work in the gym. The arc on my shots had been a little off so that is what I have been working on. Things really felt good tonight."

For MSU (6-0), Aric Holman and Nick Weatherspoon each added 12 points. Quinndary Weatherspoon had nine points and career-high 10 assists. Nick Weatherspoon has now scored in double digits in all six games, while Quinndary Weatherspoon has moved within 78 points of joining the school's 1,000-point club. Holman had a team-high nine rebounds.

"That was a good win for us," MSU coach Ben Howland said. "North Dakota State is going to win a lot of games. They play so patiently on offense, so I was worried about the preparation. Our defense to start the game this year has been outstanding."

North Dakota State went better than six minutes without scoring to start the game. A 3-pointer by Carter ran the lead to 14-5 with 11:38 left in the first half.

An 8-0 run allowed the Bulldogs to extend the lead to 29-14 with 5:18 left in the half. From there, the Bison scored the final 10 points of the half to pull within 29-24 at the break.

After North Dakota State hit a 3-pointer to start the second half, MSU broke open the contest with a 29-8 run. A dunk by Xavian Stapleton capped the run and placed the Bulldogs on top 58-35 with 12:34 left.

For the contest, MSU hit 31 of 60 shots from the field (51.7 percent), 10 of 23 shots from 3-point range (43.5 percent) and 11 of 17 shots from the foul line (64.7 percent). North Dakota State hit 22 of 57 shots from the field (38.6 percent), 10 of 35 shots from 3-point range (28.6 percent) and 5 of 8 shots from the foul line (62.5 percent).

MSU held a 41-28 rebounding advantage. The Bulldogs had 15 assists and 12 turnovers, while the Bison had 13 assists and 14 turnovers.

North Dakota State (3-4) received 19 points from Paul Miler and 15 points from A.J. Jacobson.

MSU will play host to Dayton at 7 Sunday night in Humphrey Coliseum nationally on the SEC Network.