Men’s Hoops Crushes Kent State, 96-68

Monday, December 30

Starkville

7:00 PM

Mississippi State

9-3

Kent State

10-3

Kent State

Mississippi State

Men’s Hoops Crushes Kent State, 96-68

December 30, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Box Score VIDEO: Postgame Press Conference Box Score (PDF)Postgame Quotes (PDF)

by Mikaela Elizondo, Graduate Assistant/Communications

STARKVILLE – Reggie Perry exploded for a career-highs with 26 points and 17 rebounds as the Mississippi State men's basketball team put together its most complete performance of the season with a 96-68 triumph over Kent State on Monday at Humphrey Coliseum.

For Perry, it marked his sixth double-double of the season and his SEC-leading 15th double-double among SEC active players. He also dished out three assists against zero turnovers and added one steal. Perry joined Robert Woodard II as the only SEC players to record 20-plus points and 15-plus rebounds performances this season. Woodard II completed the feat when he compiled 21 points and 16 rebounds against New Orleans on 11/17.

In addition to Perry, four other Bulldogs reached double figures to contribute to MSU's highest scoring output and largest margin of victory of the season.

Iverson Molinar rattled home 16 points in 16 minutes and shot a perfect 5-of-5 from the field. He drained a pair of three-pointers, was 4-of-5 at the charity stripe and handed out four assists of his own.

D.J. Stewart Jr. and Woodard II turned in 12 and 11 points, respectively. They each tacked on two assists and a steal.

Nick Weatherspoon filled the box score as he compiled 10 points, four assists, three rebounds, two steals and one block during his season debut at Humphrey Coliseum.

Tyson Carter worked his way to eight points and handed out two assists. His lone three-pointer during the second half allowed him to move into sole possession of seventh place for career three-pointers in program history.

Abdul Ado and Prince Oduro chipped in four points apiece. Ado grabbed seven rebounds and added a block and a steal, while Oduro contributed one rebound.

Quinten Post and Devin Butts rounded out the scoring for the Bulldogs. Post added three points on his first career trey, and Butts recorded a basket.

For the contest, MSU hit 31-of-56 shots from the field (55.4 percent), 5-of-13 shots from three-point range (38.5 percent) and 29-of-38 shots from the foul line (76.3 percent). The 55.4 field goal percentage marked the second highest shooting clip of the season and the 29 free throws made were a season's best.

The Bulldogs had 19 assists and 12 turnovers, while the Golden Flashes had 10 assists and 14 turnovers.

Mississippi State held a 40-28 rebounding advantage, ignited by Perry's 17 rebounds.

Kent State shot 25-of-61 overall (41.0 percent), 6-of-23 on three-pointers (26.1 percent) and 12-of-16 at the charity stripe (75.0 percent). The Golden Flashes received 16 points from Anthony Roberts, 11 points from Danny Pippen and 10 points from Antonio Roberts.

FROM THE BENCH WITH COACH HOWLAND
"I was really happy with our performance tonight. I thought we did a great job coming back after the deficit early. They knocked down some three's. That is a good team that we beat tonight. That is why we played them. Kent State is a Quad II team in terms of how they [the NET rankings] do it. They are going to win a lot of games this year. They have an older group."

"I thought Nick [Weatherspoon] had a really good game. You could see he was much more settled down and comfortable he was again. He had the one game under his belt in Jackson. Obviously, Reggie Perry was dominant on the glass, dominant around the basket and dominant getting to the line. We want him to get to the line. That was beautiful."

"We had five guys in double figures including Iverson Molinar with 16 points in 16 minutes, and D.J. Stewart [Jr.]. Both of those guys really scored well. Both of those guys played tonight like they practiced this week. They had great practices leading up to this game. That is how you do it. When you practice hard and you practice well, you play well in the games."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Kent State grabbed nine of the first 10 points in the contest before Mississippi State scored the next six on layups by Abdul Ado and Reggie Perry and a pair of free throws from Nick Weatherspoon to come within two for a 9-7 margin at the 15:54 mark.

The Golden Flashes used an 8-2 flurry to stretch their advantage back out to eight points and maintained a lead of five points or higher for the 7:14 off the clock.

Down 33-27 with 6:20 remaining in the half, MSU mounted a 16-4 run, ignited by seven points from Perry, to turn a six-point deficit into a 43-37 lead.

The Bulldogs would take a 45-39 lead into the locker room after going 18-of-30 shooting en route to a 60.0 percent clip. Perry compiled 14 of his game-leading 26 points in the first half.

The Golden Flashes came within two, 49-47, at the 16:15 mark in the second half.

Mississippi State would dominate next 9:48 of the contest and exploded for a 36 of the next 47 points to stretch its lead to 83-56 with 6:14 to go.

A D.J. Stewart Jr. trey on the left wing followed by a Prince Oduro dunk off a nice feed from Stewart Jr. made it 56-47 at the 13:33 mark.

Perry and Iverson Molinar would team up for 11 points during a stretch of 16 consecutive points to extend the lead from 67-56 to 83-56.

Quinten Post and Devin Butts added buckets inside the final 66 seconds to put the finishing touches on the 28-point victory for the Bulldogs.

UP NEXT
Mississippi State begins its 18-game SEC slate at home against undefeated and No. 8 Auburn on Saturday. Tip time is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. CT from Humphrey Coliseum. The game will be televised by SEC Network and carried online courtesy of the WatchESPN 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.