Weatherspoon’s Late Game Heroics Lift No. 24 Men’s Hoops Past Florida

Tuesday, January 15

Starkville

6:00 PM

Mississippi State

13-3 (1-2SEC)

Florida

9-7 (1-3SEC)

Florida

Mississippi State

Weatherspoon’s Late Game Heroics Lift No. 24 Men’s Hoops Past Florida

January 15, 2019 | Men's Basketball

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by Caleb Garner, Graduate Assistant/Communications

STARKVILLE – Quinndary Weatherspoon tapped into his knack for game-winning shots and hit a driving layup which turned into a three-point play with 3.6 seconds left to vault No. 24 Mississippi State to a dramatic 71-68 win over Florida on Tuesday at Humphrey Coliseum.

Weatherspoon provided several key plays down the stretch when it mattered most. He tallied five of his nine points during the last 1:25, and the driving layup was his fifth career game-winning shot during the closing seconds. His last game-winner was a three-pointer at Baylor during the NIT Quarterfinals on March 18, 2018.

Weatherspoon added a key late shot clock layup and an assist on another basket inside the final minute as the Bulldogs (13-3, 1-2 SEC) picked up their first win over Florida (9-7, 1-3 SEC) since the 2011-12 season to snap an eight-game skid to the Gators.

Weatherspoon notched nine points, five rebounds, three assists and a block. The nine points allowed him to pass Dee Bost (2009-10-11-12) for sixth place on MSU's scoring list.

The Bulldogs found life from three-point land and drained 10-of-17 of their three's. It marked the seventh time that Mississippi State has hit on 10-plus treys.

Lamar Peters piled 16 first-half points coupled with six assists. He knocked down four treys and reached double figures in seven of his last eight outings.

The Bulldogs held a 30-18 edge in bench points headed by Tyson Carter, Aric Holman and Reggie Perry. Carter netted 12 points fueled by four triples, and the Bulldogs improved to 21-2 over the last two seasons when he reaches double figures. Holman tacked on 10 points and three assists whereas Perry claimed eight points and four rebounds for the Bulldogs.

Nick Weatherspoon garnered a solid all-around effort with nine points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals. Abdul Ado provided four points, five rebounds and two blocks. Making his first career start, Robert Woodard II stuffed the stat sheets with three points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists.

The Bulldogs edged out Florida with a 30-29 edge in the rebounding column and handed out 19 assists on their 26 field goals.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Facing a 66-61 deficit with 2:56 remaining, the Bulldogs rattled off 10 of the last 12 points to close the contest.

The flurry was kickstarted by an Aric Holman trey courtesy of Lamar Peters. Then, Peters drove late shot clock to find a cutting Quinndary Weatherspoon on the baseline for the tying layup with 1:25 to go.

After another stop on the defensive end, Weatherspoon connected with Holman for a layup and a 68-66 advantage with 24 seconds left. The Gators answered with a floater of their own from Noah Locke to knot the tally once again at 68-68 with 9.6 seconds on the clock.

Following a UF timeout, Quinndary Weatherspoon went coast-to-coast and drove hard to the cup from the left side of the floor. He was fouled by a defender attempting to take a charge and finished the contested left-handed layup.

Florida was unable to get off a game-tying shot as the horn sounded, and the Bulldogs earned the hard-fought 71-68 decision in a contest that featured 12 ties and 11 lead changes.

Mississippi State jumped out early to a 9-2 during the game's opening four minutes. The early going was bookended by an Abdul Ado two-handed jam to open the scoring, and capped by a Reggie Perry layup.

Trailing 26-23 at the 5:29 mark, Peters put Mississippi State on his back and fueled an 11-0 spurt all by himself. He fired a trio of three-pointers and added a layup to make it 34-26 with 3:04 left.

The Gators responded with eight of the last 10 points to pull within 36-34 at the halftime break.

After Nick Weatherspoon began the second-half scoring with a midrange jumper, Florida ripped off nine straight points to turn the game of its favor by a 45-40 margin with 16:44 left.

A traditional three-point play by Holman, a jumper from Robert Woodard II and a Quinndary Weatherspoon layup gave the Bulldogs a 47-45 edge at the 12:46 mark.

The two teams traded runs during the seesaw affair, and Tyson Carter's back-to-back treys 53 seconds apart made it 53-51 with 10:01 to go. Neither team would lead by more than one possession until Florida extended the lead to five points with 2:56 remaining.

For the contest, the Bulldogs hit 26-of-49 shots from the field (53.1 percent), 10-of-17 shots from 3-point range (58.8 percent) and 9-of-11 shots from the foul line (81.8 percent).

Florida hit 25-of-59 shots from the field (42.4 percent), 10-of-31 shots from 3-point range (32.3 percent) and 8-of-10 shots from the foul line (80.0 percent).

Mississippi State had 19 assists and 15 turnovers, while the Gators had 18 assists and 11 turnovers.
Florida received 17 points from KeVaughn Allen, 13 points and eight assists from Andrew Nembhard, 12 points from Noah Locke and 11 points from Keyontae Johnson. Kevarrius Hayes had a team-highs with eight rebounds and three blocks.

UP NEXT
Mississippi State will play its next two away from home starting with a trip to Vanderbilt on Saturday. Tip time is slated for 7:30 p.m. CT from Memorial Gym. 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.