STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Quinndary Weatherspoon scored a team-high 20 points as Mississippi State defeated Missouri 74-62 on Saturday night.
The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Bulldogs (15-6, 3-5 SEC). Abdul Ado and Nick Weatherspoon each had 12 points for Mississippi State while Tyson Carter added 10 points.
Kassius Robertson had 20 points to lead Missouri (13-8, 3-5) while Kevin Puryear added 10 points.
“I was really pleased tonight with our effort,” said Mississippi State head coach Ben Howland. “We got off to a rocky start, offensively, but found our way back. In the first half, our bigs did a good job of scoring and in the second half, it came from the perimeter. We only attempted 16 shots on 3 pointers, which is nice. We have to keep getting it inside to have that balance.”
Nick Weatherspoon scored all 12 of his points in the second half for the Bulldogs while Lamar Peters finished with a career-high nine assists. Nick Weatherspoon was 0 of 5 from the field in the first half before making 5 of 8 shots in the final half.
“My coaches came to me and said the first half was over and to not focus on it,” said Nick Weatherspoon. “We all know I had a bad first half and they told me to just go play my game. I knew my jumper was not working so I tried to sneak behind the defense.”
The Bulldogs opened the second half on a 6-0 run and never relinquished the lead the remainder of the game. Missouri did get within five points twice in the second half but the Bulldogs closed the game out on a 10-4 run.
Mississippi State shot 54.7 percent for the game, including 66.7 percent in the second half. Missouri shot just 45.6 percent for the game and had 19 turnovers. The Tigers did hold a 34-27 advantage on the backboards while Mississippi State had 15 turnovers.
“We had a five-point lead late in the first half,” said Missouri head coach Cuonzo Martin. “We gave that up and didn’t get it going early in the second half. We had a lot of breakdowns on defense late in the first half and it carried over to the second half.”
The first half featured four lead changes and three ties. Missouri jumped out to a 17-10 advantage in the opening seven minutes before Mississippi State responded with an 11-4 run to tie the game at 21.
The Tigers then reeled off eight straight points to regain the lead at 29-24 only to see Mississippi State tie the game at 31 following Holman’s buzzer-beater to end the first half.
Mississippi State shot 42.3 percent in the first half and has nine turnovers. Missouri show just 39.4 percent in the first half and had seven turnovers.
BIG PICTURE
Missouri: The Tigers have now lost four of their last five SEC games. The road only gets tougher for Missouri with a trip to Alabama on Tuesday and the Crimson Tide are fresh off a win over No. 12 Oklahoma.
Mississippi State: After losing five of their last six SEC games, the Bulldogs were in dire need of a conference win. Mississippi State is now 14-1 at Humphrey Coliseum this season.
UP NEXT
Missouri remains on the road and will travel to Alabama on Wednesday.
Mississippi State returns to the road as the Bulldogs travel to South Carolina on Wednesday.
