Georgia Rallies In Second Half To Upend MSU

Tuesday, February 14

Athens, Ga.

8:00 PM

Mississippi State

14-11, 5-8

Georgia

15-11, 6-7

Mississippi St.

Georgia

Bulldogs drop hard-fought 79-72 decision to Georgia.

Georgia Rallies In Second Half To Upend MSU

February 14, 2017 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Official Stats (PDF)Official Stats

ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia shot 66.7 percent from the field in the second half to pull away to a 79-72 win against Mississippi State Tuesday night at Stegeman Coliseum.

MSU led by seven points twice in the first half and held a 32-28 lead at halftime. Georgia scored the first couple of baskets in the second half and things remained tight until the home team surged late. Georgia broke a 54-54 tie with eight straight points.

MSU placed four players in double figures. Mario Kegler, Quinndary Weatherspoon and Lamar Peters each had 14 points, while Xavian Stapleton had 11 points.

MSU fell to 14-11 overall and 5-8 in conference play, while Georgia improved to 15-11 and 6-7. The Bulldogs have lost five of their last six contest. Georgia won its sixth straight in the series.

"We did a good job defensively in the first half," MSU coach Ben Howland said. "We should have had a larger lead. In the second half, they exploited us defensively. With six minutes to go it's a tied game and we had too many turnovers. Again, our kids competed."

Both teams struggled offensively early with the game tied 9-9 with 12:10 left in the first half. Kegler and Peters hit a pair of 3-pointers to give MSU a 17-11 lead. Georgia took a brief lead before back-to-back baskets by Tyson Carter and Schnider Herard ran the MSU lead to 23-18.

A dunk by Eli Wright ran the MSU lead to 28-21, while a dunk by Herard made it 30-23 MSU. MSU had one field goal the final 3:39 of the half but still led 32-28 at the break.

Georgia built a 51-45 lead with 10:21 left in the half. MSU battled back for its last tie at 54-54 on a 3-pointer by Stapleton with 6:29 left.

For the contest, MSU hit 28 of 64 shots from the field (43.8 percent), 9 of 24 shots from 3-point range (37.5 percent) and 7 of 9 shots from the foul line (77.8 percent). Georgia hit 23 of 52 shots from the field (44.2 percent), 5 of 13 shots from 3-point range (38.5 percent) and 28 of 32 shots from the foul line (87.5 percent).

Georgia held a 37-30 rebounding advantage. MSU had 13 assists and 15 turnovers, while Georgia had 17 assists and 16 turnovers.

Georgia received 24 points from Yante Maten, 17 points from J.J. Frazier and 16 points from Juwan Parker.

MSU returns to Humphrey Coliseum for a 1 p.m. start against Florida. The Bulldogs and Gators will play on ESPN.