No. 17 Men’s Hoops Wins Shootout Over Wofford, 98-87

Wednesday, December 19

Starkville

7:00 PM

Mississippi State

10-1

Wofford

9-4

Wofford

Mississippi State

No. 17 Men’s Hoops Wins Shootout Over Wofford, 98-87

December 19, 2018 | Men's Basketball

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by Caleb Garner, Graduate Assistant/Communications

STARKVILLE – No. 17 Mississippi State used a season's best 57-point outburst during the second half en route to its seventh win in a row and a 98-87 comeback victory over Wofford on Wednesday night at Humphrey Coliseum.

The Bulldogs (10-1) trailed by a season-high nine points at the half and erased a halftime deficit for the third time on the young season. Mississippi State exploded for a 65.2 shooting clip ignited by eight treys and 61.5 percent ratio from beyond the arc in the second half.

The win increased MSU's SEC-best non-conference home winning streak to 21 games. Efficiency was the name of the game as Wofford (9-4) canned 61.5 percent from the floor aided by nine treys during the opening 20 minutes before the Bulldogs regrouped in the locker room.

Mississippi State extended its streak to four consecutive games with 10 or more three-pointers. The last time the Bulldogs accomplished that feat was against Houston, Western Kentucky, Arkansas and Alabama from Jan. 3-14, 2009. MSU has dialed up a 59-for-11 mark from three-point territory in the four-game span.

Aric Holman and Lamar Peters combined for 30 of their 48 points during the second half. Both players finished with 19 points apiece and knocked down 12 of their 15 shot attempts which included an 8-of-11 mark from the three-point line.

Peters dished out a game-leading eight assists to push his streak to eight games in a row with five or more dimes, while Holman tacked on eight rebounds and four blocks.

Quinndary Weatherspoon amassed 18 points, six rebounds and two assists. His night was headed by an impressive 14-of-15 mark at the charity stripe. The 18 points moved the Canton native to ninth on MSU's all-time scoring list. He surpassed Jamont Gordon (2006-07-08).

Nick Weatherspoon secured 11 of his 12 points during the first half. He also added two blocks and two steals on the defensive end. Abdul Ado tacked on three points, six rebounds and two blocks.

MSU's bench was up to the task again and provided 27 points going 10-of-16 from the floor. Reggie Perry notched 12 points followed by eight points from Tyson Carter and seven points courtesy of Robert Woodard II, respectively.

The Bulldogs outrebounded the Terriers by a 29-22 margin in the post and have won the battle of the boards in eight straight games. Collectively, Mississippi State was 28-of-36 on its free throw attempts.

FROM THE BENCH WITH COACH HOWLAND
"Wow, all I can say is wow. What a tough game. What a difficult game and credit Wofford. I think I was pretty clear to you all the other day how good they are. I think that really was apparent tonight because we're a pretty good defensive team. We could not stop them in the first half. They shot 75 percent from three, 61 from the field. They just made some incredibly difficult, tough shots … I thought our defense to start the second half was how we got back in the game. You know, our offense, we scored 41 points [in] the first half and 57 [in the second half]. It's pretty efficient to score 98 points on 49 shots."

"I thought Q [Quinndary Weatherspoon] really played hard defensively tonight. [Fletcher] Magee is just an unbelievable player, and he had to earn every single point he scored tonight. Q was phenomenal defensively. I thought Q did some great things manufacturing points for us at the foul line. Aric Holman had one of his best games of the year with 19 [points] and eight [rebounds]. He was 6-for-7 [from the floor], 3 for-4 from three, 4-for 4 from the line, four blocks. Very efficient. I thought Robert Woodard's [II] minutes were really important for us today. He gave us a big lift off the bench, and it's just really gratifying to be able to beat a team that's this good. I was really pleased with our fans the way they got into the game there in the second half because we needed the lift."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Nick Weatherspoon and Aric Holman hit back-to-back 3-pointers to run the Bulldogs out to an early 9-2 advantage with 16:26 remaining.

Wofford would charge back and rattled off eight straight of its own to knot the score at 14-14. The Terriers eventually made it a 16-2 spurt to grab a 22-16 edge at 9:00 mark.

The Bulldogs fired back with seven of the next eight over the next 75 seconds to draw even at 23-23 with 7:45 left. Peters used a no-look pass to dump the ball to cutting Reggie Perry for a layup and the equalizer.

Wofford was able to regain control and buried nine first-half treys to take a 50-41 lead into the locker room.

Mississippi State turned the tables with a better effort on the defensive end. The Maroon and White also canned eight three-pointers of its own to flip the script on the Terriers.

Down 53-41 after the opening minute of the stanza, the Bulldogs got rolling with a trio of trifectas 76 seconds apart. Holman opened the barrage from the top of the key. Then, Peters got into the act with back-to-back treys.

Holman capped a 12-point flurry by backing his defender down and finishing with a left-handed hook to make it 53-53 with 16:10 left.

The Bulldogs took the lead for good after Holman split free throws, and Perry drove to the basket for a layup to bring the tally to 59-56 at the 13:23 mark.

Mississippi State extended the lead into double figures on at traditional three-point play from Quinndary Weatherspoon to run the advantage to 75-64 with 8:37 on the clock.

Wofford closed within five points on two occasions. The first time was at 76-71 with 6:17 to go, but Peters energized the crowd with consecutive treys to balloon the margin back to 11 points.

The later was inside the final minute at 92-87. The Bulldogs would salt the game away with four free throws and Perry tip-in for the final margin of 98-87.

For the contest, the Bulldogs hit 28-of-49 shots from the field (57.1 percent), 14-of-27 shots from 3-point range (51.9 percent) and 28-of-36 shots from the foul line (77.8 percent).

The Terriers hit 31-of-57 shots from the field (54.4 percent), 13-of-22 shots from 3-point range (59.1 percent) and 12-of -4 shots from the foul line (85.7 percent).

MSU had 13 assists and 12 turnovers, while the Terriers had 12 assists and 14 turnovers.

Wofford (9-4) received 24 points from Fletcher Magee, 20 points and six rebounds from Cameron Jackson and 15 points from Nathan Hoover.

UP NEXT
Mississippi State travels to the state capital to face 2017-18 NCAA Tournament participant Wright State on Saturday. Tip time is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT from Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson. The game will be televised by SEC Network and available online through the WatchESPN app.

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.