Mississippi State Basketball Runs Past Georgia

STARKVILLE, Miss. — The Mississippi State men’s basketball team controlled the pace Saturday night against the Georgia Bulldogs, en route to a 91-59 rout of Georgia inside Humphrey Coliseum.

With the win, MSU improves to 11-6 (2-3 SEC), while Georgia falls to 11-6 (1-3 SEC).

State started out strong, jumping out to a 6-0 lead. MSU increased its lead to 10-2 before Georgia called its first timeout of the game.

Georgia scored the next six points to cut the deficit to one point at 12-11 with 14:11 in the half. Sophomore forward Reggie Perry’s dunk under the basket made it 14-11, but Georgia made the next two baskets to take a lead at 15-14 with 12:52 to play in the half. A 3-pointer by senior guard Tyson Carter allowed MSU to retake a lead at 17-15.

Then with the score knotted up at 19-19, State went on a 6-0 run to take a 25-19 lead with 9:08 to go. The MSU lead was extended to 10 points at 38-28 with 1:16 to play in the first stanza.

Junior guard Nick Weatherspoon’s bucket at the buzzer gave State a 42-31 lead at the halftime break.

The teams traded baskets early in the second half, with MSU keeping hold of a double-digit lead. State managed to grow the lead to 20 points at 66-46 after freshman guard D.J. Stewart Jr. knocked down a pair of free throws with 7:58 to play in the game. The scoring continued as Carter finished off the 11-0 run with a layup to give State a 73-46 lead with 5:53 left.

MSU went on to to win by 32 points with a 91-59 win over Georgia.

Perry finished with a game-high 22 points and 12 rebounds for his SEC-leading 10th double-double on the season. He also dished out six assists. Carter scored 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc.

Joining them in the double-digit scoring club were sophomore guard Robert Woodard II, who finished with 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting, and Weatherspoon, who finished with 12 points on 6-of-12 shooting to go with a team-high eight assists.

MSU shot 37-of-60 (61.7%) from the field, while holding Georgia to 22-of-56 (39.3%) shooting. State held a 40-22 rebounding edge.

Next up for MSU, the Bulldogs will host Arkansas on Wednesday. Tip time is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT and will be televised by SEC Network.