Men’s Hoops Batters Alabama, 81-62

Tuesday, February 12

Starkville

8:00 PM

Mississippi State

17-7 (5-6SEC)

Alabama

15-9 (6-5SEC)

Alabama

Mississippi State

Men’s Hoops Batters Alabama, 81-62

February 13, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Highlights Press Conference Photo Gallery Box Score (PDF)

by Caleb Garner, Graduate Assistant/Communications

STARKVILLE – Hot shooting nights from Lamar Peters and Quinndary Weatherspoon spearheaded Mississippi State to an 81-62 victory against Alabama on Tuesday night at Humphrey Coliseum.

The Bulldogs (17-7, 5-6 SEC) ended a two-game losing streak and earned a regular season split with Alabama (15-9, 6-5 SEC) for the third time in four seasons under Ben Howland.

Mississippi State forced the Crimson Tide into 18 turnovers and scored 28 of the game's 33 points off turnovers. The Bulldogs also matched a season's best with 15 steals.

In a complete reversal from the first meeting between the teams, the Bulldogs held a 40-24 advantage in paint points. Alabama compiled 54 paint points during the first meeting in Tuscaloosa. MSU also secured a 35-26 rebounding edge.

The 19-point win was the second-highest margin of victory versus a SEC opponent during the Ben Howland era. It also marked the program's largest margin of victory over Alabama dating back to a 91-67 win on March 4, 2007.

For Peters, he fired in SEC season-high 22 points coupled with four steals and three assists. He registered a 7-of-15 shooting performance aided a trio of three-pointers and a 5-for-5 effort at the free throw line.

Quinndary Weatherspoon posted a 20-point performance for the fourth time during the last six games. He was a stellar 8-of-10 shooting which included 3-of-4 from three-point territory. The senior guard showed a knack for spreading the wealth and dished out a game-leading six assists and grabbed three steals. MSU has won 15 of the last 16 outings in which Weatherspoon has scored 20 or more over the last two seasons.

Reggie Perry notched his fifth double-double effort of the season and fourth in his last six outings. He picked up 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Abdul Ado claimed 10 points and two steals. The 10 points marked the highest point total for Ado since MSU's SEC opener at South Carolina on Jan. 8.

Nick Weatherspoon tucked away a solid all-around effort with six points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists whereas Robert Woodard II came away with six points, nine rebounds and two steals.

FROM THE BENCH WITH BEN HOWLAND
"Well, that was an incredible effort by our team. I'm so proud of how we preformed based on our effort and of how hard we played. I was telling this to Q [Quinndary Weatherspoon], for me, this is the best game we've played since I have been the coach at Mississippi State, without question. It's because of how we played, defensively on both ends of the floor. This is the best game."

"Reggie Perry was fantastic in terms of his double-double. He was great on the glass. When they were making little runs, he was getting offensive rebounds that were huge. I thought Abdul [Ado] had his best game of the year today. He was really a force out there. I was really excited about Nick [Weatherspoon], and he got in foul trouble in that first half. That is why he only played eight minutes. Robert Woodard [II] gets nine rebounds in his minutes with a couple steals. He did a lot of things that don't show up on the stat sheet. I though Tyson [Carter] and Aric [Holman] both played incredibly hard defensibly. I just really hope we can really build on this and understand what it took to play this way."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Ahead 8-7 at the 18:21 mark, the Bulldogs ripped off 14 of the 17 points over the next 6:21 to open up a 12-point lead.

Peters began the flurry with a trio of free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt. Then, Quinndary Weatherspoon drove and found Reggie Perry for a reverse layup to make it 13-7 with 16:14 remaining.

In a late shot clock situation, Nick Weatherspoon connected with Robert Woodard II for a two-handed jam. Nick Weatherspoon capped the run with a midrange jumper in transition to build the advantage to 22-10 with 10:29 to go.

The Bulldogs converted five of their last seven shot attempts and took a 43-30 advantage into the locker room. Mississippi State closed the stanza with layups from Perry and Abdul Ado.

Alabama pulled within single digits at 52-43 with 13:20 remaining. Quinndary Weatherspoon responded with a five-point burst in a 20-second span. He drained a three-pointer, and a Nick Weatherspoon steals turned into a Quinndary Weatherspoon dunk to push the margin back to 15 points.

The Crimson Tide made one final push and drew within nine points one last time at 62-53 with 8:28 remaining. Once again, Quinndary Weatherspoon had the answer. This time with a driving layup off an Abdul Ado screen.

For the contest, the Bulldogs hit 29-of-59 shots from the field (49.2 percent), 7-of-15 shots from three-point range (46.7 percent) and 16-of-20 shots from the foul line (80.0 percent).

The Crimson Tide countered with a 22-of-51 mark from the field (43.1 percent), 7-of-24 shots from three-point range (29.2 percent) and 11-of-12 shots from the foul line (91.7 percent).

MSU had 13 assists and 12 turnovers, while the Crimson Tide had 14 assists and 18 turnovers.

Kira Lewis, Jr. provided 17 points followed by Tevin Mack's 13 points and Dazon Ingram's 12 points. Donta Hall added 11 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs return to the road for the first time in two weeks and meet Arkansas on Saturday. Tip time is slated for 7:30 p.m. CT from Bud Walton Arena. The game will be televised by SEC Network and available online through 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.