Three-Point Barrage Catapults No. 22 Men’s Hoops Past Clemson, 82-71

Saturday, December 8

Newark, N.J. (Prudential Center)

3:00 PM

Mississippi State

8-1

Clemson

6-3

Clemson

Mississippi State

Photo by: Erik Schelkun/Elsestar Images

Three-Point Barrage Catapults No. 22 Men’s Hoops Past Clemson, 82-71

December 08, 2018 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Highlights Box Score (PDF)Quotes (PDF)

by Caleb Garner, Graduate Assistant/Communications

NEWARK, New Jersey – Lamar Peters matched his own program single-game record with eight, and No. 22 Mississippi State splashed home a program school-record 19 treys to claim an 82-71 victory over Clemson during Saturday's Never Forget Tribute Classic at the Prudential Center.

The Bulldogs (8-1) led wire-to-wire and by as many as 19 points late in the first half. Mississippi State snapped a three-game losing streak to Clemson (6-3) and also has won back-to-back games over ACC opponents following a 79-56 triumph over Louisville in the 2018 NIT Quarterfinals.

The 19 three-pointers eclipsed the previous mark of 17 set against Southern Miss on Dec. 19, 2016 in Jackson. The Bulldogs have canned 33 triples fueled by 16 from Peters during their last two games.

For Peters, he posted a career-best game for the second straight game. The New Orleans native fired in 28 points on 9-of-13 shooting ignited by eight treys. He also dished out five assists to surpass the 300-mark for his career.

Peters' running mate, Quinndary Weatherspoon, poured in solid all-around effort with 20 points, seven rebounds, five assists a steal. It marked his fifth 20-point performance of the season as Mississippi State moved its record to 19-2 and won 11 consecutive games over the last two seasons when he eclipses the 20-point mark. The one steal enabled Weatherspoon to tie Timmy Bowers (2001-02-03-04) for 7th on the program's all-time list.

Aric Holman secured 16 points, six rebounds and one block. He knocked down 5-of-8 shooting – all from behind the three-point line. The one block allowed Holman to match Rickey Brown (1977-78-79-80) for fifth place on the school's blocks list.

Tyson Carter garnered eight points, four assists and two steals followed by Nick Weatherspoon who handed out a career-high six assists to go along with five rebounds and two points. Reggie Perry tacked on five rebounds and two points, while Abdul Ado notched four points and three rebounds.

Mississippi State held a 32-31 rebounding edge over the Tigers, and the Bulldogs distributed out 22 assists on 28 field goals.

FROM THE BENCH WITH COACH HOWLAND
That was really a big win for us tonight, to beat a very good Clemson team that we have great respect for. I thought we came out and, obviously, got off to a great start. Aric (Holman) made those three threes, and Lamar made a tough shot. We got rolling."

"Our defense was really good. We had a 20-point lead (late in the first half). I was a little disappointed we let it dissipate, only leading eight at the half. But the way we shot the ball tonight, I believe in our guys. It's just nice to see how well we can shoot the ball, and it's coming out the last two games. Lamar, in particular, spent an incredible amount of time in the off-season working on his shot. You could see he has a lot of confidence in his shot"

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The Bulldogs raced out to fast 11-2 during the game's opening 110 seconds as Aric Holman drained a trio of three-pointers. Mississippi State stretched the advantage to 26-12 at the 9:31 mark after a back-to-back treys courtesy of Lamar Peters.

The Bulldogs continued to excel on the defensive end, and a 9-0 run vaulted the Maroon and White to their largest lead at 38-19 with 3:59 to go. Quinndary Weatherspoon capped the flurry with a driving layup.

Overall, Mississippi State banged home 10 first-half triples to take a 42-34 edge into halftime.

The Bulldogs picked up right where they left off to start the second 20 minutes. Lamar Peters converted a steal into a stepback, transition three-pointer on the right wing. Then, he drove and found Abdul Ado for a layup. The New Orleans native dialed up two more triples to make it 53-40 with 16:46 on the clock.

Clemson wouldn't go away and pulled back to within five points at 58-53 with 13:11 remaining. The Tigers remained within striking distance but wouldn't get any closer than five points.

At 65-60, Holman and Carter fired in three-pointers on back-to-back possessions from Quinndary Weatherspoon and Nick Weatherspoon, respectively, to stretch the margin back to 71-60 with 8:12 left.

Peters put the finishing touches on the 13-point triumph with a pair of free throws to give himself a career-high 28 points.

For the contest, the Bulldogs hit 28-of-52 shots from the field (53.8 percent), 19-of-30 shots from 3-point range (63.3 percent) and 7-of-11 shots from the foul line (63.6 percent).

The Tigers hit 27-of-62 shots from the field (43.5 percent), 6-of-27 shots from 3-point range (22.2 percent) and 11-of-17 shots from the foul line (64.7 percent).

Mississippi State had 22 assists and 14 turnovers, while the Tigers had 15 assists and nine turnovers.

Clemson received 23 points from Aamir Simms, 18 points from Elijah Thomas and 12 points from David Skara. Thomas also had a team-high eight rebounds and three blocks for the Tigers.

UP NEXT
Mississippi State welcomes Cincinnati, the defending American Athletic Conference (AAC) champions, to Humphrey Coliseum next Saturday. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 pm. CT. The game will be televised by SEC Network and available online courtesy of 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.