Woodard II’s Career Day Vaults Men’s Hoops Past New Orleans, 82-59

Sunday, November 17

Starkville

2:00 PM

Mississippi State

4-0

New Orleans

1-3

New Orleans

Mississippi State

Woodard II’s Career Day Vaults Men’s Hoops Past New Orleans, 82-59

November 17, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Box Score VIDEO: Highlights VIDEO: Postgame Presser VIDEO: Robert Woodard II SEC+ Interview Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery Postgame Quotes (PDF)

by Mikaela Elizondo, Graduate Assistant/Communications

STARKVILLE – Robert Woodard II exploded for a career-high 21 points and a career-best 16 rebounds to corall his first career double-double and lift Mississippi State to a 82-59 victory over New Orleans on Sunday at Humphrey Coliseum.

Woodard II filled the box score with four assists coupled with a career-high tyring three steals and two blocks. The sophomore's 21 points marked the first 20-plus-point performance of his career.

Mississippi State (4-0) extended its SEC-leading non-conference home winning streak to 26 games which dates back to 2016-17. Mississippi State has won 32 of 33 games when holding the opposition to 60 points or less under Coach Howland which includes a 19-game streak over the last four-plus seasons.

The Bulldogs have had their last three opponents to under 60 points for the second time in the Howland era. The previous three-game run came from Nov. 26 to Dec. 3, 2017 versus Jacksonville State (59-56), North Dakota State (83-59) and Dayton (61-59).

Reggie Perry, D.J. Stewart Jr. and Iverson Molinar joined Woodard II in double figures. Mississippi State has pieced together back-to-back games with four players with 10-plus points.

Perry amassed 14 points to reach double figure for the fourth consecutive game and was 6-of-9 from the floor. He also grabbed nine rebounds and dished out four assists. Stewart Jr. worked his way to 13 points off the bench, while Molinar contributed 10 points.

Tyson Carter and KeyShawn Feazell turned in nine points apiece. Carter handed out five assists and recorded one steal whereas Feazell grabbed six rebounds over his 15 minutes of court time.

Abdul Ado, Prince Oduro and Quinten Post rounded out the scoring for the Bulldogs. Oduro chipped in a season's best three points and four rebounds, while Post picked up his first basket in the Maroon and White.

For the contest, MSU hit 31-of-61 shots from the field (50.8 percent), 5-of-20 shots from 3-point range (25.0 percent) and 15-of-24 shots from the foul line (62.5 percent) en route to its highest scoring output of the season. The Bulldogs have connected at over a 50 percent clip in three of their first four games.

MSU grabbed a season-high 45 rebounds in the contest compared to 27 for New Orleans. The Bulldogs had 20 assists and 14 turnovers, while the Privateers (1-3) had 10 assists and 12 turnovers.

New Orleans shot 22-of-58 overall (37.9 percent), 2-of-11 on three-pointers (18.2 percent) and 13-of-15 at the charity stripe (86.7 percent). The Privateers received 14 points each courtesy of Troy Green and Bryson Robinson.

FROM THE BENCH WITH COACH HOWLAND
"We did a great job on the glass, outboarding them by 18 rebounds. Robert Woodard [II] was absolutely incredible today on the glass with 16 boards. I think his whole line was good. If you look at our offensive rebounding, Reggie [Perry] had four and Robert had six. I thought KeyShawn [Feazell] did a good job in his minutes, and Prince [Oduro] got three offensive rebounds. We are coming after it every time the shot goes up."

"I thought we did a good job in terms of 20 assists on 31 baskets. I thought Reggie made some beautiful back-cut passes to D.J. Stewart [Jr.] and Tyson [Carter]. [New Orleans plays] up the line and over plays everything which forces you to back-cut. D.J. was the one guy that really did a great job of it in particular. He got open every time. Reggie is a fantastic passer, when you see him pass."

"This is just the beginning for him [Woodard II]. He is going to have a lot of big nights in his career as a Bulldog. This is just scratching the surface. I think it is great for him. His confidence has to be swelling right now. It is all about how hard he works. He has paid the price to be this good. He worked so hard in the spring, the summer, and this fall. He has a tremendous work ethic. I couldn't be happier for a guy."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The two teams played within two points of each other during the opening 12:10 of the contest.

With the score even at 19-19 with 8:29 to go, the Bulldogs used a 17-6 flurry over the next 4:57 to pull ahead and gain a 36-25 advantage.

Robert Woodard II jumpstarted the run with a second-chance, under-the-basket layup. He grabbed 11 of his 15 first-half points during the run which was highlighted by a trey and dunk to get the crowd going.

MSU took advantage of free throws by Reggie Perry and Abdul Ado to bring a 10-point advantage, 38-28, into the break.

State connected on 15 of its 29 shots during the first half, ignited by 6-of-9 shooting for Woodard II with nine rebounds and three assists.

To open the second half, Mississippi State compiled 17 of the first 25 points to balloon the margin out to 57-36 with 12:31 remaining. The segment was fueled by seven points by D.J. Stewart Jr. coupled with dunks from Perry and Woodard II.
The Bulldogs extended the spread to a 30-point lead, their largest of the season, midway through the second half on a second-chance layup by Perry at 70-40 with 7:01 to go.

New Orleans would cut the lead down to 21 points inside the final minute. The closing moments were headed by a Quinten Post layup off an offensive rebound for his first career bucket.

UP NEXT
Mississippi State hits the road for the first time in 2019-20 and travels to the Myrtle Beach Invitational for a trio of games. The Bulldogs face Tulane on Thursday followed by either Villanova or Middle Tennessee on Friday. Thursday's tip time is slated for 1 p.m. CT. The game will be televised by ESPNU and available online via 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.