New Mexico State Outlasts Bulldogs in Jackson

JACKSON, Miss. — The Mississippi State men’s basketball team dropped a close 58-52 contest to the New Mexico State Aggies Sunday afternoon at Mississippi Coliseum.

The Bulldogs fall to 8-3, while the Aggies improve to 8-6.

Senior guard Tyson Carter made a layup in the beginning stages to up the MSU lead to 8-4 with 12:46 to play in the first half.

New Mexico State then used a 14-2 run to give the Aggies an 18-10 lead with 6:12 left in the half. The Bulldogs responded with a 7-0 run to make it 18-17 with 3:39 to go.

MSU went to the halftime break trailing 23-21. The Bulldogs shot 13-of-28 (46.4%) from the field in the first half, which include just 1-of-8 from beyond the arc.

New Mexico State began the second half with a 9-0 run to take a 32-21 lead with 18:02 to play. Then, down 45-31, Mississippi State went on a 9-0 run, which was capped off with a jumper from junior guard Nick Weatherspoon to make it a 45-40 with 8:36 to go in the game.

The Aggies responded with a triple to make it 48-40, but the Bulldogs wouldn’t go away without a fight. A dunk by junior forward Abdul Ado trimmed the deficit to just one point at 51-50 with 3:36 to play before a layup by sophomore forward Reggie Perry gave MSU a 52-51 lead with 2:35 to go. Back-to-back jumpers then gave New Mexico State a 55-52 lead.

The Aggies went on to win 58-52 over MSU.

Perry led the MSU offensive attack with 17 points on 8-of-15 shooting to go with 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double this year. Carter joined him in double figures as he finished with 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting. Weatherspoon finished with eight points on 4-of-shooting in his first game this season.

As a team, the Bulldogs shot 21-of-51 (41.2%), but only 3-of-16 (18.8%) from 3-point range. The Aggies shot 20-of-40 (40%) from the field, including 9-of-23 (39.1%) from beyond the arc.

The Bulldogs will be back in action Monday, Dec. 30 as they host Kent State at Humphrey Coliseum. Tip time is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT.