Bulldog Hoops Continues Winning Ways With 76-61 Win Over South Carolina

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Quinndary Weatherspoon and the Mississippi State men’s basketball continued its winning ways Saturday evening with a 76-61 win over the South Carolina Gamecocks at Humphrey Coliseum.

The Bulldogs have now won four straight Southeastern Conference games and improve to 20-7 (8-6 SEC). The Gamecocks fall to 14-13 (9-5 SEC).

The game was very back and forth for the most part with South Carolina taking a quick 17-4 lead with 9:30 to go in the first stanza. The Bulldogs made a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer to make it a game again at 19-11 with 7:59 to go.

The Dawgs trailed by as many 16 points before closing out the half on a 15-6 run to head to the locker rooms trailing the Gamecocks 36-29. MSU turned the ball over 10 times in the first half and shot just 33.3 percent. The Gamecocks shot 43.8 percent in the half, including 5-of-10 from beyond the arc.

The second half began with South Carolina scoring five unanswered points to take a 41-29 lead before the Bulldogs went on a 9-0 run to make it 41-38 with 17:26 to go in the game. Lamar Peters hit back-to-back threes during the run.

MSU hit five consecutive baskets to draw within two at 45-43 before a free throw by Peters and a dunk by Aric Holman gave MSU its first lead at 46-45 with 15:11 to go. Q then led MSU with seven points in a 11-0 run to take a 58-48 lead at the 10:13 mark. The Gamecocks came within six with just over seven minutes to go, but the Bulldogs didn’t let up as MSU went on to win 76-61.

Reggie Perry led all scorers with 21 points in the game, which ties a career-high for him. He also grabbed six rebounds in the contest. Perry knocked down all seven of his free throws. Weatherspoon and Peters joined Perry with double-digit scoring nights with 17 and 11, respectively. Peters scored nine of his 11 in the second half.

Tyson Carter and Holman chipped in with nine points apiece.

This is now the sixth halftime comeback win this season and marks back-to-back 20-win seasons for the Dawgs.

MSU will be back in action Tuesday when it hosts the Missouri Tigers at Humphrey Coliseum. Tip off is set for 6 p.m. CT.