Kentucky Proves To Be Too Much For Mississippi State

LEXINGTON, Ky. – No. 8 Kentucky Wildcats proved to be too much for No. 22 Mississippi State men’s basketball team as the Bulldogs dropped the Southeastern Conference battle 76-55 Tuesday evening at Rupp Arena.

MSU falls to 14-4 (2-3 SEC), while Kentucky improves to 15-3 (5-1 SEC).

The Bulldogs took a 4-0 lead early off a pair of baskets from Nick and Quinndary Weatherspoon, but it was the Wildcats who set the tone for the game storming back with an 18-2 run.

Kentucky led 20-7 before a 6-0 Bulldog run made it a 20-13 ballgame. State went into the half trailing 34-26.

The second half saw the two teams trading baskets with MSU relentlessly attacking the basket. State went on a 9-2 run and came within two points off of a Quinndary Weatherspoon layup that made it 41-39 at the 13:39 point.

Kentucky then pulled away as they scored 18 of the next 25 points over the next 6:50. The Wildcats shot 46.4 percent in the second half opposed to the Bulldogs’ 32.1 percent. Kentucky also shot 4-7 from three, while State was limited to 2-12 from beyond the arc.

Offensively, it was the lowest output of the season for MSU. Defensively, the Bulldogs scored 13 points on the Wildcats’ 16 turnovers.

Quinndary Weatherspoon led the Bulldogs with 19 points on the night. He also had five rebounds.

Tyson Carter added 11 points while Nick Weatherspoon and Reggie Perry recorded eight points apiece.

The Bulldogs were out-rebounded 43-36 in the contest. Robert Woodard II had a team-high 13 rebounds in the game and Perry was second on the team with eight.

State will be back in action Saturday with a critical SEC game in Starkville at Humphrey Coliseum against No. 16 Auburn. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. CT and will be televised by the SEC Network.