No. 17 Men’s Hoops Cruises Past Long Beach State, 79-51

Friday, November 16

Starkville

8:00 PM

Mississippi State

3-0

Long Beach State

1-3

Long Beach State

Mississippi State

Photo by: Trevor Birchett/MSU Athletics

No. 17 Men’s Hoops Cruises Past Long Beach State, 79-51

November 17, 2018 | Men's Basketball

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by Caleb Garner, Graduate Assistant/Communications

STARKVILLE – A strong close to the first half carried into a solid second half, and the No. 17 Mississippi State men's basketball team dialed up its third straight victory by a 79-51 margin over Long Beach State on Friday at Humphrey Coliseum.

The Bulldogs (3-0) forced a season's best 20 turnovers on the defensive end. MSU outscored the 49ers 43-23 during the second 20 minutes powered by 21 points from Quinndary Weatherspoon. It marked his third consecutive 20-point performance to open the season.

Weatherspoon led four Bulldogs in double figures during the final game of the MGM Resorts Main Event Regional Round. The Bulldogs' success came in part due to a sparkling 30 points off the bench.

The 49ers took their largest lead of the game at eight, 26-18, at the 8:06 mark of the opening half. Mississippi State buckled down defensively to chip away at the deficit, forcing 13 first-half turnovers. The Bulldogs closed out the half on a superb 15-0 run over the closing 4:54.

For the third straight game to open the season, Tyson Carter reached double-figures and filled the box score with a season-high 17 points to go along with six rebounds, five assists and three steals. Lamar Peters chipped in a season's best 16 points and tacked on four assists and three steals.

MSU dominated the boards by a 52-39 margin led by a career-high 14 from Reggie Perry, who also factored in five points off the bench. Aric Holman added 10 points and seven rebounds while tying his career-high with four blocked shots. Abdul Ado also had a solid night rebounding and collected eight boards.

In the paint, State dominated at a 40-14 clip, while also taking advantage of its 20 offensive rebounds by scoring 11 points off second chances.

FROM THE BENCH WITH COACH HOWLAND
"I'm glad we figured it out. They were really hurting us in transition early on. That really was a struggle early on in this ballgame tonight and credit them for the way they pushed it. They were substituting in waves, five guys at a time. I thought we finally caught our breath and started doing a great job especially the last part of the first half defensively. We had an 18-2 run to close out the half being down 26-18 so that was big for us. Again, our offense, everything starts with our defense. We got really hurt in transition early on in this game and did a good job to bounce back after a really tough beginning to the game."

"I was really happy for Reggie tonight. Reggie's a very good rebounder. We keep stats every day in practice. He's been one of the top three rebounders the entire year for us in our practices. You play how you practice. You can see what he is capable of tonight. Getting 14 rebounds is really phenomenal for a freshman early on in his career. You can see his physicality. He's obviously a very talented kid, but there's no such thing as a selfish rebounder. That's so important for your team. I was really pleased with tonight. Tonight was the first time we crushed someone on the glass this year, 52-34, is big. Another great thing we did tonight is force 20 turnovers again. I think we've had 15 in the first game, we forced 21 in the second game and then 20 tonight. That's a big stat for us."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The Bulldogs seized control on the defensive end. Down 28-21, the Maroon and White scored the final 15 points of the first half to take a 36-28 halftime lead.

After Long Beach State scored the opening basket of the second half, MSU reeled off a 17-2 run to build a 53-32 lead. Overall, the 49ers were held to four points over a stretch of 15 minutes.

The contest was nip-and-tuck early. The teams were tied 12-12 before the 49ers reeled off seven straight points. The Bulldogs battled with baskets from Perry and Carter, and MSU trailed 26-21 after a 3-pointer from Peters.

The half-ending run started on a 3-pointer from Carter. A dunk by Perry and layup by Abdul Ado tied the contest. Another dunk by Holman energized the crowd and Carter scored the final basket of the half for the eight-point lead.

The Bulldogs continued the balanced scoring as Weatherspoon scored a pair of baskets and Robert Woodard II followed with a score for 46-32.

An old-fashioned 3-point play by Quinndary Weatherspoon ran the lead to 56-37 with 10:07 left. The lead would grow to 28 at 72-44 following a 9-0 run.

For the contest, the Bulldogs hit 31 of 74 shots from the field (41.9 percent), 4 of 23 shots from 3-point range (17.4 percent) and 13 of 18 shots from the foul line (72.2 percent). The 49ers hit 18 of 55 shots from the field (32.7 percent), 7 of 16 shots from 3-point range (43.8 percent) and 8 of 15 shots from the foul line (53.3 percent).

Long Beach State (1-3) received eight points from KJ Byers and Bryan Alberts.

UP NEXT
Mississippi State hits the road for the first time in 2018-19 and travels to the MGM Resorts Main Event for a pair of games. The Bulldogs face Arizona State on Monday followed by either Saint Mary's or Utah State on Wednesday. Monday's tip time is slated for 10 p.m. CT and will be televised by ESPNU.

The Mississippi State Athletics Ticket Office is selling season tickets for as low as $199. Fans can purchase tickets online at www.HailState.com/Hoops, in person at the MSU Athletics Ticket Office located at the Bryan Athletic Building or via the phone at (662) 325-2600. Information on single-game tickets and mini plans will be announced at a later date by the ticket office.

Visit www.HailState.com for the latest news and information on the men's basketball program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets by searching 'HailStateMBK' on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.