Mississippi State Overcomes South Carolina 72-68 in Overtime

As Mississippi State (21-8 overall, 9-7 SEC) faced off against South Carolina (15-14 overall, 6-10 SEC) in Humphrey Coliseum, the Bulldogs found themselves in a tough matchup against the Gamecocks. State struggled for most of the game and only led for 10:36 of game time.

Despite for trailing throughout the game, Mississippi State mounted a comeback. At halftime, South Carolina held onto a 32-25 lead and the Gamecocks’ defense slowed Mississippi State considerably. MSU was only able to shoot 33.3% from the floor and failed to hit more than 20% of their three point attempts.

Things would change in the second half, starting with MSU’s shooting and defense. The Bulldogs hit 14 of 28 shots in the second half and 3 of 8 from beyond the arc, outscoring the Gamecocks 37-30 in the process. Unfortunately, this second half turnaround would not be enough and South Carolina would force an overtime with a buzzer beater.

Once the Bulldogs got to overtime, they were able to pull away at the end of the game, but not any sooner than that. South Carolina continued to challenge MSU, but Lamar Peters, Tyson Carter, and Quinndary Weatherspoon were able to solidify the win for the Bulldogs.

Peters paced the Bulldogs in points with 19, followed by Q Weatherspoon and Carter with 13 each. Nick Weatherspoon put up 10 points but also fouled out. Eli Wright came off the bench and provided an energetic 8 points in 14 minutes that enabled State to close the gap in the second half.

Mississippi State is now 18-1 at home and the Bulldogs will host #19 Tennessee (21-7 overall, 11-5 SEC) in Starkville on Tuesday at 6:00. That’ll be the Bulldogs’ last home game of the season.