Ado, Defense Sparks Men’s Hoops Rally Past K-State, 67-61

Saturday, December 14

Newark, N.J. (Prudential Center)

10:30 AM

Mississippi State

7-2

Kansas State

6-4

Mississippi State

Kansas State

Ado, Defense Sparks Men’s Hoops Rally Past K-State, 67-61

December 14, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Box Score VIDEO: Highlights Box Score (PDF)VIDEO: Postgame Presser

NEWARK, New Jersey – After trailing by as many as 12 points during the first half and by as much as seven points midway through the second half, Mississippi State finished both halves with authority to grind out a 67-61 victory over defending Big 12 regular season co-champion Kansas State in the Never Forget Tribute Classic on Saturday at Prudential Center.

The Bulldogs (7-2) used a 17-5 run during a 6:12 span to close the first half and ripped off 12 of the last 15 points over the last 3:36 of the contest.

Mississippi State has won back-to-back games over Big 12 opponents going back to the 2017-18 season and emerged with a victory for the first time in four meetings with Kansas State (6-3).

The Bulldogs have won five of its six decisions when tied at halftime under Ben Howland and have picked up consecutive victories during back-to-back seasons at the Never Forget Tribute Classic. MSU defeated Clemson, 82-71, in last year's event.

State put forth a balanced scoring attack as four players tucked away double figures. Tyson Carter provided a team-leading 14 points ignited by a 7-for-10 clip from the charity stripe. He dished out a game-high four assists to go along with three rebounds and two steals. The 14 points enabled Carter to get within two points of passing Larry Fry (1973-74-75) for 34th place on MSU's all-time list.

Abdul Ado nearly compiled his first double-double since his freshman campaign. He pumped up nine of his season-high 13 points in the second half. The Nigeria native was an efficient 6-of-7 shooting and matched his season's best with nine rebounds. Ado also registered three blocks to bring his career total to 139, four shy of tying Charles Rhodes (2005-06-07-08) for seventh place in program history.

Robert Woodard II corralled his second career double-double as he amassed 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. He also locked down K-State's leading scorer, Xavier Snead who entered the game averaging 15.1 points per game, to a season-low eight points. Snead misfired on nine of his 11 shot attempts.

Making his first career start, D.J. Stewart Jr. gave the Bulldogs a boost on both ends with 10 points and two steals. The redshirt freshman has reached 10-plus points in five games this season.

Iverson Molinar and Reggie Perry turned in eight and seven points, respectively. Perry registered six boards coupled with a career-high four blocks. He had his run of eight straight games to start the season in double figures come to a close.

KeyShawn Feazell rounded out the scoring for State with a three-pointer and grabbed two rebounds.

For the contest, MSU hit 23-of-58 shots from the field (39.7 percent), 4-of-15 shots from 3-point range (26.7 percent) and 17-of-25 shots from the foul line (68.0 percent).

State came away with 36 rebounds, eight assists and 13 turnovers, compared to K-State's 36 rebounds, seven assists and 16 turnovers. The Bulldogs held a healthy 28-14 advantage in paint points and hauled down 14 offensive rebounds en route to 15 of the game's 21 points off second-chance opportunities.

Kansas State was 14-of-43 overall (32.6 percent), 6-for-18 on three-pointers (33.3 percent) and 27-for-36 at the charity stripe (75.0 percent). The Wildcats received 20 points from Cartier Diarra and 14 points from Mike McGuirl.

FROM THE BENCH WITH COACH HOWLAND
"I thought it was a really good comeback, the way we fought back in the first half. I think our biggest deficit was 12. To get it back to tied at halftime, I really was proud of that effort. We were fighting our way upward all day today. Credit our players for their toughness and their with fortitude and for their ability to continue to battle when things weren't easy. Kansas State is a good team, and that's a good win for our team today moving forward. I think they're going to win a lot of games in their conference."

"I was really happy with our defense in the second half. We held them to 27 percent in the second half, that's a huge stat. The first half they had six three's, I think in the second half they had zero three's. We did a better job defending the three-point line. We just have to stay out of foul trouble. Foul trouble was really a problem today. They shot 36 foul shots and got to the line a lot."

"I think our bigs did a good job of staying in front of the ball. Abdul played huge for us going 6-for-7 with 13 points and nine rebounds. I think that dunk by Iverson Molinar really lifted our team [late in the second half]. That juiced our guys."

"D.J. Stewart [Jr.] had a huge game today. When we finally were able to take the lead, it was on his steal where he finished in transition. He had just made a lay up the possession before. I thought he did a good job defensively on their point guard [Cartier Diarra], who is a really good player and really had it going today. I thought that Robert Woodard II's defense today was tremendous. To hold [K-State's Xavier] Sneed they're leading scorer to two baskets and 2-for-11, is really a credit to how hard he played and to taking that on as a challenge. Lot of good defense."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Mississippi State built an early 7-2 lead during the opening 4:29 of the contest. Robert Woodard II buried a three-pointer from the left wing on the game's opening possession. Then, D.J. Stewart Jr. added a midrange jumper off an inbounds play followed by a Reggie Perry contested bucket in the paint.

Kansas State countered with 25 of the next 33 points over the next 7:32 off the clock and limited the Bulldogs to three field goals during the span. Five combined treys courtesy of Cartier Diarra and Matt McGuirl fueled the Wildcats run.

Trailing 27-15 at the 6:12 mark, Mississippi State drained six of its final eight shot attempts en route to a 17-5 flurry to draw even heading into the locker room.

Stewart Jr. began the rally with a pair of free throws, while Woodard II and Abdul Ado connected on consecutive paint baskets to make it 27-21 with 4:55 left.

Woodard II dialed up another left wing three-ball, and Iverson Molinar converted on a driving layup during the closing seconds to bring the tally to 32-32.

The two teams played within four points of each other during the first 10:04 of the second 20 minutes before Kansas State extended their lead to six, 49-43, on a David Sloan layup with 9:56 to go.

Down 55-51 at the 6:08 mark, Molinar drove hard to the cup and finished with a one-handed dunk through traffic to gain momentum. Two Perry free throws 63 seconds later knotted the score at 55.
The Wildcats regained a 58-55 edge after a trio of Diarra free throws with 3:45 left.

State began its explosive 12-3 finishing kick behind Stewart Jr., who hit a 10-foot runner off glass. On the next possession, Stewart Jr. turned a steal into a transition layup to put the Bulldogs up 59-58 with 3:11 remaining. It marked MSU's first lead since being ahead 11-9 with 12:22 to go in the first half.

Mississippi State continued to make winning plays down the stretch as Tyson Carter delivered a late shock clock, stepback midrange jumper on the right wing, and Ado finished strong through contact for a putback layup to vault the Bulldogs up 64-59 with 1:27 to go.

Carter provided three free throws and a critical steal inside the closing 24.1 seconds to put the finishing touches on a six-point comeback victory for the Bulldogs.

MSU's defense placed the clamps down on the Wildcats who were held to a 6-for-22 shooting clip in the second half. Kansas State converted on only one field goal over the last 9:55 of the game.

UP NEXT
Mississippi State continues a stretch of three games over a nine-day span leading into the holiday break when the Bulldogs take on Radford from the Big South Conference on Wednesday. Tip time is on-tap for 7 p.m. CT from Humphrey Coliseum. The game will be carried online only courtesy of SEC Network+ and the Watch ESPN platform.

The Bulldogs next two games at the Hump against Radford (Dec. 18) and versus Kent State (Dec. 30) are "$1 General Admission Nights" with advanced purchase at www.HailState.com/tickets or in person at the Mississippi State Athletics Ticket Office located on the first floor of the Bryan Building. Discounted pricing will not be available on gamedays at the Humphrey Coliseum Box Office.

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.