Bulldogs Escape Athens With 68-67 Win

ATHENS, Ga. — It came down to the wire, but the Mississippi State men’s basketball team escaped Athens with a 68-67 win over the Georgia Bulldogs Wednesday evening at Stegeman Coliseum.

MSU improves to 19-7 (7-6 SEC), while Georgia falls to 10-16 (1-12 SEC).

Georgia jumped out to an early 5-1 lead, but a three pointer by Tyson Carter and a jumper by Reggie Perry helped MSU take a 6-5 lead.

No team could pull away as the score was 18-17 in favor of MSU with 6:50 to go in the first stanza. Georgia then went on a 7-0 run to take a 24-20 lead with 3:57 to go.

State then responded by scoring 13 straight points that was all part of 16-1 run to close out the half. MSU headed to the locker rooms leading 36-25.

MSU shot 51.6 percent from the field in the first half compared to Georgia’s 29 percent.

MSU started the second half with six unanswered points to increase the halftime lead to 42-25.

State held a double-digit lead up until the the 11:07 mark when Georgia’s Rayshaun Hammonds knocked down a three to make it 56-49.

Georgia then cut the lead to just two points at 62-60 with 3:18 remaining. MSU lead 67-64 after Quinndary Weatherspoon knocked down two pressure free throws. Georgia responded by tying things up at 67-67 with just 10 seconds remaining. Q closed out the game by making a technical foul shot as MSU escaped with a 68-67 Southeastern Conference win.

Weatherspoon finished with a career-high 31 points in the win. He also added four rebounds, a steal and a block to his night. Perry and Carter joined him with double-digit nights with Perry scoring 12 points and Carter scoring 11.

Perry added four rebounds and Carter added three rebounds and four assists.

Abdul Ado also chipped in with seven points and tied with a team-high seven rebounds.

The Bulldogs will now return to Starkville to host South Carolina at Humphrey Coliseum on Saturday. Tip off is set for 5 p.m. CT and will be televised by SEC Network.