Men’s Hoops Blasts Ole Miss, 69-44, on Senior Night

Saturday, March 7

Starkville

5:30 PM

Mississippi State

20-11,(11-7SEC)

Ole Miss

15-16,(6-12SEC)

Ole Miss

Mississippi State

Men’s Hoops Blasts Ole Miss, 69-44, on Senior Night

March 07, 2020 | Men's Basketball

Box Score WATCH: Reggie Perry SEC Network Interview WATCH: Postgame Presser PHOTOS Box Score (PDF)Quotes (PDF)

by Mikaela Elizondo, Graduate Assistant/Communications

STARKVILLE – Reggie Perry delivered his ninth 20-plus point and 10-plus rebound performance of the season, while Tyson Carter and Nick Weatherspoon combined for 20 points and 10 assists of their own to spearhead the Mississippi State men's basketball team to a dominant 69-44 Senior Night Triumph over Ole Miss on Saturday at Humphrey Coliseum.

The victory enabled the Bulldogs (20-11, 11-7 SEC) to climb into a fourth place tie with Florida. The tiebreaker pushed Mississippi State into the No. 4 seed and a double bye at next week's SEC Tournament. State will play either Florida, Georgia or Ole Miss during Friday's quarterfinal round at approximately 2:30 p.m. CT televised by ESPN.

The Bulldogs captured their third consecutive 20-win season for the first time since 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10. Mississippi State has amassed 68 victories during that span which is the fourth-most in program history for a three-year total.

Defensively, the Bulldogs held Ole Miss (15-16, 6-12 SEC) to 44 points and a 29 percent shooting clip. The 44 points marked the fewest points allowed by State against a SEC foe during the Ben Howland era. The 25-point triumph was the program's largest margin of victory over the Rebels going back to an 84-55 triumph on Feb. 18, 2006 in Starkville. The Bulldogs have won 36 of 38 games when holding the opposition to under 60 points with Howland at the helm.

For Perry, he exploded for 18 of his 22 points during the first half. He was 7-of-13 from the floor and converted on 8-of-9 at the foul line. The sophomore compiled hs 17th double-double of the season and his fourth double-double in his last six outings. The 17 double-doubles are tied for fourth place with Jarvis Varnado (2009-10), while the nine 20-10 are third-most in a season at MSU since 1972-73.

Weatherspoon filled the box score with 11 points, six assists versus zero turnovers and four steals. Robert Woodard II chipped in 11 points to make it double figures in nine of his last 13 appearances.

Carter worked his way to nine points, four rebounds and four assists on his Senior Night. The nine points brought Carter's total to 1,351 career points on the night where his father, Greg, won his fourth state championship at Starkville High.

D.J. Stewart Jr. dialed up seven points, five rebounds and two assists. Abdul Ado and Iverson Molinar rounded out the scoring for the Bulldogs. Ado fired in five points, nine rebounds and four blocks, while Molinar added four points.

For the contest, MSU hit 24-of-52 shots from the field (46.2 percent), 2-of-10 shots from three-point range (20.0 percent) and 19-of-24 shots from the foul line (79.2 percent).

The Bulldogs had 15 assists and nine turnovers, while Ole Miss had six assists and 11 turnovers. State held a 42-30 rebounding advantage over the Rebels.

Ole Miss shot 15-of-51 overall (29.4 percent), 2-of-17 on three-pointers (11.8 percent) and 12-of-17 at the charity stripe (70.6 percent). The Rebels were led by Devontae Shuler and Breein Tyree, who registered 16 and 11 points, respectively. Tyree misfired on nine of his 13 shot attempts.

FROM THE BENCH WITH COACH HOWLAND
"I'm really excited for our team and for our fans. It was our best defensive performance that I can remember here at Mississippi State. I can't remember a time where our defense was so good. I thought that doubling the ball screens that [Breein] Tyree was in was really effective for us in terms of our aggressiveness. Holding them to 29 percent from the field is unbelievable. They're so good offensively. They're such a well-coached and a talented team. This was the best defense I've played all year."

"I thought that Nick Weatherspoon who had zero assists and six turnovers in Oxford turned that around to have six assists and zero turnovers at home. His defense was phenomenal. That's one of the best defensive performances I've ever had a player give. He's going against an NBA player. Nick was the spearhead of this whole thing. He was phenomenal. [Breein] Tyree had 40 [points] up there [at Ole Miss] and 11 [points] here today. He is a great player. No doubt that he is an NBA player. I have zero doubt about that."

"I thought that was so classy of Tyson Carter. I was so proud of him. The way he led our team in practice the last two days was great. To have him go out and kissing the floor is special. Reggie [Perry] was dominant today, 22 [points] and 14 [rebounds]. He set the tone today early offensively. I'm just so proud of all of our guys. Their preparation and how we played today, I thought that was the best game we've played all year."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The two teams played within four points of each other during the opening 12:30 of the contest which featured five ties and one lead change.

All square at 21-21 with 7:30 left, Mississippi State finished the half on an 18-4 run to build a 14-point halftime lead. Reggie Perry did the heavy lifting with 11 of the 18 points and opened the flurry with a traditional three-point play.

After two Perry free throws, Nick Weatherspoon connected with Robert Woodard II for a dunk. Then, Weatherspoon drained a trey to bring the tally to 31-21 with 3:56 to go. Perry ripped off six consecutive points, and Tyson Carter closed the stanza with a pair of free throws to lift the Bulldogs to a 39-25 advantage heading into the locker room.

State kept its foot on the gas pedal and started the second half where it left off to end the opening half. The Bulldogs scored 10 of the first 14 points to extend their lead to 49-29 after a Perry jam at the 15:01 mark.

MSU took its largest lead at 65-38 with 6:52 remaining after back-to-back buckets courtesy of Abdul Ado. The Bulldogs bottled up Ole Miss into a 6-for-31 shooting clip over the last 27 minutes of the contest.

UP NEXT
Mississippi State heads into next week's SEC Tournament as the No. 4 seed with the winner capturing the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs earned a double dye and will face either Florida, Georgia or Ole Miss during Friday's quarterfinal round. Tip time is set for 2:30 p.m. CT televised by ESPN.

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.