Ado’s Late Heroics Lift Men’s Hoops Past Arkansas, 78-77

Saturday, February 15

Fayetteville, Ark.

12:00 PM

Mississippi State

16-9 (7-5SEC)

Arkansas

16-9 (4-8SEC)

Mississippi State

Arkansas

Photo by: USA Today

Ado’s Late Heroics Lift Men’s Hoops Past Arkansas, 78-77

February 15, 2020 | Men's Basketball

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by Matt Dunaway, Associate Director/Communications

FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas – One of Mississippi State's calling cards all season has been its offensive rebounding prowess, and Abdul Ado delivered a game-winning tipin with 0.6 seconds left to vault the Bulldogs to a key 78-77 NCAA NET Quad 1 road victory over Arkansas on Saturday in-front of a sold-out Bud Walton Arena.

Mississippi State (16-9, 7-5 SEC) captured its first two-game regular season sweep over the Razorbacks (16-9, 4-8 SEC) since the 2010-11 season. It also marked the Bulldogs program-best sixth consecutive victory over Arkansas under fifth-year coach Ben Howland.

Tyson Carter pumped in 17 of his SEC career-high 26 points during the second half. It marked his highest scoring output going back to a season's best 28 points against Sam Houston State on 11/08. He knocked down 8-of-14 from the floor and hit on 8-of-10 at the free throw line. The 26-point effort allowed Carter to move past Erick Dampier (1994-95-96) and Jerry Graves (1959-60-61) and into a tie with Jack Bouldin (1970-71-72) for 22nd place on MSU's all-time list.

Reggie Perry tacked on 17 points and eight rebounds followed by 10 points apiece for D.J. Stewart Jr. and Nick Weatherspoon, respectively. The Bulldogs improved to 10-3 on the season when Stewart Jr. reaches double-digit points.

Iverson Molinar chipped in eight points, all during the first half, on a flawless 4-of-4 shooting. The Carter-Molinar combo paced Mississippi State to a 34-2 edge in bench points.

Ado's winning basket was his lone bucket of the contest. He also compiled seven rebounds and two blocks. Robert Woodard II secured five points, five rebounds and two blocks to round out the scoring for the Bulldogs.

For the contest, MSU connected on 30-of-51 from the field (58.8 percent), 3-of-7 on its three-pointers (42.9 percent) and 15-of-22 at the free throw line (68.2 percent). The Bulldogs ripped off a season-high 26 fastbreak points and grinded their way to a 36-28 advantage in paint points.

Arkansas was 24-of-52 shooting (46.2 percent), 6-of-16 from three-point territory (37.5 percent) and an efficient 23-of-26 on free throws (88.5 percent).

The Bulldogs had nine assists and 16 turnovers whereas Arkansas had 10 assists and 13 turnovers. Mississippi State possessed a 28-26 rebounding edge.

Mason Jones fueled the Razorbacks and poured in 38 points en route to his fourth 30-point effort in his last six appearances. He drew 13 fouls and lived at the line going 18-for-21 on free throws. Desi Sills and Adrio Bailey notched 13 and 10 points, respectively, for Arkansas.

FROM THE BENCH WITH COACH HOWLAND
"I'm just so proud of our guys. The way they played here today, to build a 17-point lead (56-39), to have it dissipated to minus-three (75-72) with a 1:45 to go and to find a way to get the win. I thought we came out in the first half and really played well. Iverson Molinar gave us a huge lift today. I used our players off the bench a lot more. You look at him and Tyson [Carter], that's 34 points right there between the two of them. Just an incredible performance."

"I thought he [Abdul Ado] was really important for us the whole game. The last game we played [at Ole Miss], when he's in there, it's even. When he's out, we're minus 25. He anchors our defense. I just love Abdul. I'm so happy for him to be the hero and to put the last shot in. I'm proud of him. He's such a wonderful kid and just a really good person."

"The steal [by Carter] that put us up one and to have him come down and score. Again, I'm just so proud of our guys. Proud of their fight, their toughness and the mental toughness to hang in there at a very difficult place to play against a very good team that's really well-coached with one of the best players in all of college basketball. I mean [Mason] Jones is absolutely incredible. I just love the story to make his body from 250 [pounds] to what it is now. All that effort and work that he's put into his game, and his understanding and feel is incredible."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
All square at 32-32 with 1:18 left during the first half, Mississippi State ripped off eight consecutive points to go ahead 40-32 at the break.

Tyson Carter bookended the eight-point run with an old school three-point play off a driving layup and canned a right wing triple to beat the buzzer to give the Bulldogs the 40-32 halftime edge.

Mississippi State immediately went up by double digits, 42-32, on a D.J. Stewart Jr. runner late shot clock. The Bulldogs stretched it to a 15-point spread, 51-36, at the 15:56 mark. Again, it was Stewart Jr. who added the spark with a transition and-one layup and a right wing triple.

Mississippi State took its largest advantage of 17 points at 56-39 after another Carter traditional three-point play with 14:37 to go. The Razorbacks fired back with nine straight points to draw back to single digits, 56-48, with 13:16 left.

The Bulldogs withstood some initial Arkansas rallies, but the Razorbacks kept charging. Mason Jones and Desi Sills combined for a 15-3 spurt over a 3:38 stretch to take a 69-60 deficit into a 75-72 lead. It was a Sills left corner trey from Jones with 1:45 on the clock that placed Arkansas ahead.

Mississippi State kept its composure courtesy of two Carter free throws coupled with a Carter steal and dunk to go back up 76-75 with 1:11 to go.

After two Jones foul shots put the score back in-favor of the Razorbacks at 77-76 with 59.7 seconds left, the Bulldogs had one final opportunity after the two teams exchanged defensive stops.

With under five seconds, Carter drove to the cup. His floater hit off the rim and backboard to Ado, who got the friendly bounce for the game-winning tipin and his lone bucket of the contest.

After Arkansas scored the game's opening five points, the Bulldogs settled in behind Reggie Perry who fired in seven of the team's first nine points. A traditional three-point play brought Mississippi State within 10-9 at the 16:00 mark.

Trailing 14-11 with 14:43 remaining, Iverson Molinar provided a 6-0 flurry on his own with a pair of floaters and a coast-to-coast transition layup as the Bulldogs took their first lead, 17-14, with 12:19 to go.

Mississippi State stretched its advantage to 27-22 with 6:05 remaining after a D.J. Stewart Jr. fastbreak dunk courtesy of a nice bounce pass from Molinar. The two teams exchanged a trio of 5-0 runs which knotted the score at 32-32 inside the half's last two minutes.

UP NEXT
Mississippi State heads into the final third of its conference slate and welcomes South Carolina to Humphrey Coliseum on Wednesday. Tip time is set for 8 p.m. CT. The game will be televised by the SEC Network and carried online courtesy of 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.