Men’s Hoops Bounces Back with 80-70 Victory over Vanderbilt

Saturday, February 8

Starkville

7:30 PM

Mississippi State

15-8 (6-4SEC)

Vanderbilt

9-14 (1-9SEC)

Vanderbilt

Mississippi State

Men’s Hoops Bounces Back with 80-70 Victory over Vanderbilt

February 09, 2020 | Men's Basketball

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by Mikaela Elizondo, Graduate Assistant/Communications

STARKVILLE – The Mississippi State men's basketball team fought their way back into the win column as Tyson Carter, Reggie Perry and Nick Weatherspoon racked up 42 second-half points on a scorching 13-for-16 shooting clip to lift the Bulldogs past Vanderbilt, 80-70, on Saturday at Humphrey Coliseum.

The victory moved Mississippi State (15-8, 6-4 SEC) into a three-way tie with Florida and South Carolina into fourth place in the SEC standings. The Bulldogs have won four straight and improved to 14-4 against the Commodores (9-14, 1-9 SEC) in Starkville since 1989-90.

Mississippi State captured its 20th halftime comeback victory under fifth-year coach Ben Howland, and it marked the third consecutive SEC win for the Bulldogs when trailing at the break. The Bulldogs hit on their first eight shot attempts en route to a 62.5 field goal percentage during the second half.

Reggie Perry stuffed the stats sheet as he exploded for 25 points and 11 rebounds coupled with a career-high tying six assists and a career-high equaling four blocks. He was 7-of-10 from the field, 3-of-5 on treys and 8-of-9 at the charity stripe.

For Perry, he has amassed 20-plus points in three of his last four appearances and eight of his last 12 outings. The Bulldogs improved to 8-1 when Perry has eclipsed 20-plus points. The sophomore also turned in his SEC-leading 13th double-double on the season and 22nd of his career.

Weatherspoon rattled home a season's best 21 points, one shy of his career-high, on an 8-of-9 shooting clip. He grabbed six rebounds and dished out three assists. Weatherspoon has provided double figures in 10 of his 13 games on the season.

Carter did the heavy lifting off the bench as he pumped in 16 points to go along with two steals and two steals. The 16-point effort marked his best scoring output since he pumped in 18 points versus Georgia on 01/18. He also jumped into 25th place on MSU's all-time scoring list and moved past Leland Mitchell (1961-62-63) and Dave Williams (1966-67-68).

D.J. Stewart Jr. garnered seven points and four rebounds whereas Robert Woodard II chipped in five points, eight rebounds and three blocks.

Abdul Ado and Iverson Molinar rounded out the scoring for the Bulldogs. Ado added four points, while Molinar contributed a basket. Ado also secured three boards and distributed two assists.

For the contest, MSU hit 28-of-53 shots from the field (52.8 percent), 5-of-14 shots from 3-point range (35.7 percent) and 19-of-25 shots from the foul line (76.0 percent).

The Bulldogs had 15 assists and 16 turnovers, while Vanderbilt had nine assists and 11 turnovers. State held a 37-30 rebounding advantage and worked its way to a 42-30 edge in paint points.

Vanderbilt shot 23-of-58 overall (39.7 percent), 6-of-24 on three-pointers (25.0 percent) and 18-of-23 at the charity stripe (78.3 percent). Saben Lee paced the Commodores with 20 points, six steals and four assists. Ejike Obinna and Jordan Wright followed with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

FROM THE BENCH WITH COACH HOWLAND
"Well, I am really excited about the win. I thought Vanderbilt came in here with a lot of momentum, obviously, coming off a huge win over LSU. They really played well. Being down at halftime was tough, again. We had the lead [early], and we have got to do a better job protecting that. Give them credit, they are very well-coached. They run a lot of good stuff. I thought we really came out in the second half and did a good job being aggressive."

"I thought that we came out with great toughness and got stops. We were getting the ball out in transition to the point where we were going too fast and having turnovers that we can't afford. We're at our best when we're getting stops, quick outlets and pushing the ball. I thought Reggie [Perry] did a nice job shooting three's. I know he had at least two in the second half, and those were big."

"We show good mental toughness in that respect, and that's big. You keep fighting. You keep battling. You keep displaying toughness. You play as hard as you possibly can and good things are going to happen because we have good players."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Facing a 35-31 halftime deficit, Mississippi State stormed out of the gates with a 14-2 run during the opening 2:45 of the stanza. The spurt was ignited by a Nick Weatherspoon transition layup, and a D.J. Stewart Jr. corner trey courtesy of Weatherspoon. Seven consecutive Reggie Perry points capped the flurry and made it 45-37 with 16:36 mark.

The Bulldogs stretched it to double figures, 54-44 with 12:39 left, on a Stewart Jr. contested layup. Then,
Then, Tyson Carter ignited a 8-2 run that culminated with a trey to enable Mississippi State to grab its largest lead at 16 points, 62-46, midway through the second half.

Vanderbilt worked its way back and were able to pull within six points on three occasions, the latest coming at 74-68 with 2:19 to go. Carter converted a transition layup, and Weatherspoon tacked on a pair of free throws to get MSU's lead back to double digit points inside the final minute.

The Bulldogs have won their last three games by double figures over Vanderbilt, the last time MSU accomplished that feat was during the 2000-01, 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons.

DJ. Stewart Jr. and Abdul Ado notched the first two baskets of the game to give Mississippi State a 4-0 edge during the opening 1:50 of the contest.

Down 5-4 at the 17:28 mark, Perry ripped off eight straight points of his own to kickstart a stretch of 17 of the next 25 points for State. The Bulldogs raced out to a 21-13 lead after an Abdul Ado dunk off an offensive rebound with 9:09 left.

Up 29-23 with 3:29 to go, Vanderbilt turned the tables and used a 12-2 finishing kick courtesy of six points each from Saben Lee and Ejike Obinna. A Tyson Carter layup as the final seconds ticked off the clock made it 35-31 in favor of the Commodores heading into the locker room.

UP NEXT
Mississippi State will play its next two on the road to wrap a seven-game stretch with five games away from Humphrey Coliseum. The Bulldogs take on in-state rival Ole Miss Tuesday at the Pavilion. Tip time is set for 6 p.m. CT. The game is televised by ESPNU 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.