Weatherspoon Brothers Shine In Win Against No. 22 Hogs
Mississippi
State rang in the New Year with a dramatic 78-75 win against No. 22
Arkansas in its SEC opener Tuesday night at Humphrey Coliseum.
Quinndary
Weatherspoon and Nick Weatherspoon each had 22 points to lead the
Bulldogs. Abdul Ado added a game-high nine rebounds with four blocked
shots.
A putback by Ado with 39 seconds left gave the Bulldogs the lead for good.
“That
was an unbelievable game and a great win for our team,” MSU coach Ben
Howland said. “Arkansas has the type of team that could make a deep run
in the (NCAA) Tournament. To somehow find a way with our backs against
the wall, I’m very proud of the effort.
“We did a good job against the press. Seven turnovers in 40 minutes are huge.”
MSU
(13-1, 1-0) had to overcome 60 percent shooting from the foul line and
19 percent shooting from 3-point range to snap a four-game losing
streak in conference openers.
The
contest was tight throughout with nine ties and 11 lead changes. The
Bulldogs had to battle back from an eight-point deficit in the final
12:46.
The Bulldogs were held without a field goal
for the first five minutes. However, the Maroon and White established
early its desire to play with physical tenacity. The end result was a
tremendous effort on the defensive end which kept the team in the
contest.
MSU
eventually pulled even at 11-11. The Razorbacks ran the lead to six at
20-14. The Bulldogs followed with seven straight points for a 21-20
lead on a basket by Quinndary Weatherspoon.
The
lead switched hands a couple of more times before a basket by Nick
Weatherspoon gave the Maroon and White a 32-30 halftime lead.
“We
did a great job of getting to the line,” Howland said. “We drove to the
basket and got contact. We just played a tough, physical game. Winning
the (conference) opener against a ranked team is a good thing.”
Arkansas
scored the first eight points of the second half for a 36-32 lead. The
Bulldogs kept battling though. Ado brought the Bulldogs within two at
40-38. The Razorbacks followed with a 9-4 run for a 49-42 lead.
The Bulldogs eventually pulled even at 56-56 with a basket from Nick Weatherspoon with 8:58 left.
Still,
a second-half lead was not gained until Xavian Stapleton made a pair of
free throws for a 69-67 lead with 4:00 left. Back-to-back 3s by the
Weatherspoon brothers tied the game at 75 with 1:20 left.
For
the contest, MSU hit 25 of 59 shots from the field (42.4 percent), 4 of
21 shots from 3-point range (19.0 percent) and 24 of 40 shots from the
foul line (60.0 percent). Arkansas hit 32 of 62 shots from the field
(51.6 percent), 6 of 15 shots from 3-point range (40.0 percent) and 5
of 12 shots from the foul line (41.7 percent).
Both
teams had 39 rebounds. The Bulldogs had nine assists and seven
turnovers, while the Razorbacks had 17 assists and 13 turnovers.
Arkansas
(11-3, 1-1) received 24 points from Daryl Macon, 17 points from Daniel
Gafford, 11 points from Jaylen Barford and 10 points from Adrio Bailey.
Barford had a team-high seven rebounds.
MSU
resumes conference play with a Saturday road trip to rival Ole Miss.
The Bulldogs and Rebels meet at 3:30 p.m. on the SEC Network.
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