No. 14 Men's Hoops Drops OT Decision at South Carolina

Tuesday, January 8

Columbia, S.C.

8:00 PM

Mississippi State

12-2 (0-1SEC)

South Carolina

7-7 (2-0SEC)

OT 1

Mississippi State

South Carolina

Photo by: Keith Warren

No. 14 Men's Hoops Drops OT Decision at South Carolina

January 08, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Press Conference

by Matt Dunaway, Associate Director/Communications

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Aric Holman provided 20 points, 10 rebounds and a career-best five blocks, but No. 14 Mississippi State was handed an 87-82 overtime loss by South Carolina during Tuesday's SEC opener at Colonial Life Arena.

The Bulldogs (12-2, 0-1 SEC) erased a seven-point deficit with 12 minutes remaining in regulation but eventually saw their SEC-leading nine-game winning streak come to a close.

Mississippi State had an opportunity to win the game in regulation, but Lamar Peters had his contested driving layup attempt rim out with a few seconds remaining.

Holman dialed up 16 of his 20 points during the second half en route to his third 20-point performance on the season. He was 6-of-11 from the floor and matched a career-best with five treys. Holman has picked up double figures in four consecutive games fueled by consecutive 20-point outings.

Nick Weatherspoon turned in a solid all-around effort with 18 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals. The 18-point effort was his second-highest scoring output on the season.

Quinndary Weatherspoon worked his way to 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists. The 15 points enabled Weatherspoon to surpass Darryl Wilson (1994-95-96) for 7th place on the program's all-time scoring list.

Peters came away with 15 points, seven assists and three steals. The New Orleans, Louisiana, native has distributed five or more assists in 11 straight games.

Abdul Ado registered a season's best 12 points coupled with five rebounds, three blocks and two steals. He was an efficient 5-of-7 shooting.

Mississippi State's bench players were limited to a season-low two points and misfired on five of its six shot attempts.

South Carolina (7-7, 2-0 SEC) held a 47-40 rebounding advantage and collected a 16-9 edge in offensive boards. Another key for the Gamecocks was a 13-for-17 clip at the free throw line compared to a 13-of-23 mark for Mississippi State.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Trailing 61-54 at the 11:49 mark, the Bulldogs ripped off nine of the next 11 points ignited by a Nick Weatherspoon transition layup courtesy of an outlet pass from Quinndary Weatherspoon.

Mississippi State would knot the score at 63-63 with 8:40 remaining after Lamar Peters and Quinndary Weatherspoon canned baseline three-pointers 52 seconds apart.

Down 68-67, Holman put together a five-point spurt of his own capped by a deep three-pointer to give the Bulldogs a 72-68 edge with 5:02 to go.

South Carolina responded in a seesaw affair that featured nine ties and 12 lead changes. A traditional three-point play from Maik Kotsar placed the Gamecocks back on-top by a 75-73 margin with 2:03 on the clock.

On the ensuing possession, Quinndary Weathespoon fired back with a 16-foot stepback jumper on the left wing for the final bucket of regulation to tie the score at 75-75.

A midrange jumper by Nick Weatherspoon opened the overtime scoring for the Bulldogs. However, the Gamecocks answered with four straight points to take the lead for good. Kotsar notched a pair of key buckets in the final moments.

Mississippi State had a chance to extend the game to a second overtime during the final 10 seconds down by three points. A Quinndary Weatherspoon turnover turned into a transition dunk for the Gamecocks and the final margin of 87-82.

Both teams led by as many as five points during the opening 20 minutes. The Bulldogs wiped away an early 7-2 hole and grabbed a 35-30 advantage after a Peters steal resulted in a Quinndary Weatherspoon layup at the 4:03 mark. South Carolina used an 11-2 finishing flurry to snatch a 41-37 lead into the locker room.

For the contest, the Bulldogs hit 29-of-64 shots from the field (45.3 percent), 11-of-25 shots from three-point range (44.0 percent) and 13-of-23 shots from the foul line (56.5 percent).

South Carolina hit 33-of-81 shots from the field (40.7 percent), 8-of-23 shots from 3-point range (34.8 percent) and 13-of-17 shots from the foul line (76.5 percent).

The Bulldogs had 17 assists and 16 turnovers, while the Gamecocks had 15 assists and 12 turnovers.

South Carolina received 25 points and nine rebounds from Kotsar, 17 points and seven rebounds from Hassani Gravett and 11 points each from Chris Silva and Felipe Haase. Silva cleared a game-leading 12 rebounds to secure his SEC-high 18th career double-double.

UP NEXT
Mississippi State will play host to Ole Miss on Saturday, January 12. Tip time is on-tap for 12 p.m. CT from Humphrey Coliseum. The game will be televised by CBS and available online through www.CBSSports.com.

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.