Men’s Hoops Cruises Past Louisiana-Monroe, 62-45

Thursday, November 14

Starkville

6:00 PM

Mississippi State

Louisiana-Monroe

Photo by: Austin Perryman/MSU Athletics

Men’s Hoops Cruises Past Louisiana-Monroe, 62-45

November 14, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Box Score VIDEO: Highlights VIDEO: Postgame Presser VIDEO: Reggie Perry SEC Network Interview Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery Postgame Quotes (PDF)

by Mikaela Elizondo, Graduate Assistant/Communications

STARKVILLE – Reggie Perry and Robert Woodard II pumped in a combined 27 points to ignite a balanced attack of four players in double figures as the Mississippi State men's basketball team dialed up its third straight victory by a 62-45 margin over Louisiana-Monroe Thursday at Humphrey Coliseum.

Perry amassed a team-high 14 points and matched his career-best with 14 rebounds as he corralled the 11th double-double of his career. The sophomore preseason All-America forward also distributed three assists and added two steals. Perry's 11 career double-doubles leads the SEC among active players.

Woodard II worked his way to 13 points to match his career-high on 5-of-10 from the floor. He grabbed seven rebounds coupled with two assists and two steals.

Mississippi State (3-0) extended its SEC-leading nonconference home winning streak to 25 games which dates back to 2016-17 season. The Bulldogs also have strung together 18 consecutive victories and won 31 of 32 games when holding the opposition to under 60 points during the Ben Howland era. The 45 points by ULM (2-2) are the second-lowest point total by an opponent under Howland.

Iverson Molinar and D.J. Stewart Jr. joined Perry and Woodard II in double figures as Molinar secured 10 points and two rebounds whereas Stewart Jr. garnered 10 of State's 13 bench points on 4-for-6 shooting.

Abdul Ado and Tyson Carter turned in six points apiece. Ado registered seven rebounds and four blocks, while Carter handed out four assists and notched two steals.

KeyShawn Feazell and Prince Oduro rounded out the scoring for the Bulldogs.

For the contest, MSU hit 20-of-49 shots from the field (40.8 percent), 3-of-12 shots from three-point range (25.0 percent) and 19-of-30 shots from the foul line (63.3 percent).

MSU held a 41-32 rebounding advantage. The Bulldogs had 11 assists and a season-low 14 turnovers, while the Warhawks had nine assists and 17 turnovers.

ULM shot 18-of-51 overall (35.3 percent), 5-of-16 on three-pointers (31.3 percent) and 4-of-12 at the charity stripe (33.3 percent). The Warhawks received 14 points from JD Williams and 10 points each from Chris Efretuei and Michael Ertel.

FROM THE BENCH WITH COACH HOWLAND
"Overall, I thought it was a really good effort. We forced them into 17 turnovers, which is something they haven't done a lot of. I was really happy in the first half. We only turned it over four times [in the first half] and 14 for the game. So, we're getting better at not turning the ball over. We just have to keep growing in that area. We got to the [free throw] line 30 times. We got it inside a lot more – Reggie Perry got to the [free throw] line 10 times tonight, and I'm really happy about that. That's what I want to see every night, getting there eight [or] ten times a game. I mean, 14 [points] and 14 [rebounds] tonight. That's a man. He was dominant tonight and I love the way he played. He had three assists and did a lot of good things for us. So, it was a really good overall win."

I've always felt like when you have multiple guys in double figures, four or five guys, it makes you really hard to defend. Abdul [Ado] scored six points and made a couple foul shots, but he had four blocks again. He's had nine blocks in the last two games. I'm really excited about that. He's doing a great job protecting the rim."

"What we really stress is transition defense. I thought to allow a team to zero points in transition on defense. Hallelujah, that is beautiful. I'm so thankful about that. That will be the first thing I mention to our team tomorrow because we work on it every day. There's a lot that goes into being back and being set with still being able to go get 13 offensive rebounds. I thought a lot of those fast break points came off of some missed shots but also came off of some turnovers that we forced. We forced a lot of turnovers. D.J. [Stewart Jr.], again, played very well today for us. He did a lot of exciting things. I'm very happy about his progress and growing. Second game where he had double figures. He's doing really great things."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Reggie Perry grabbed five of his 10 first half points within the first four minutes of the game as State raced out to a 9-2 lead at the 16:07 mark. The run was highlighted by a Perry trey and dunk. MSU maintained a wire-to-wire lead for the first time all season.

ULM responded with 11 of the next 16 points to close within 14-13 with 9:36 remaining. Then, State ripped off eight unanswered points over the next 3:12, ignited by a Tyson Carter layup to give the Bulldogs a 22-13 edge.

Up 26-21 with 3:27 to go, the Bulldogs put together a 13-3 flurry to bring a 39-24 lead into halftime. Eight points from the free throw line and a Robert Woodard II trey at the buzzer from the left baseline fueled the run.

State connected on 13 of its 30 shots during the first half, while holding a 13-3 advantage on second-chance points.

The Warhawks used a pair of threes from JD Williams to pull within single digits midway through the second half but would get no closer than nine points.

State took advantage of nine free throws to compile 16 of the next 20 points to grab their highest lead of the game with 2:13 left in the contest. D.J. Stewart Jr. knocked down a three and connected on a jumper during the run.

UP NEXT
Mississippi State concludes its four-game homestand on Sunday as the Bulldogs host New Orleans at Humphrey Coliseum. Tip time is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT. The game will be carried online only courtesy of SEC Network+ and the Watch ESPN platform.

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.