Weatherspoon, Carter Lead MSU Men Past Missouri, 68-49

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Mississippi State men’s basketball team got 22 points and 20 points from Tyson Carter and Quinndary Weatherspoon in a 68-49 win over the Missouri Tigers Tuesday night at Humphrey Coliseum.

The Bulldogs are now 21-7 (9-6 SEC) and have now clinched back-to-back seasons with a Southeastern Conference winning record. They have also now won five straight SEC games, while Missouri falls to 12-15 (3-12 SEC).

The Bulldogs jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead after Carter hit a layup with 17:25 to go in the first half. MSU controlled the game throughout the opening minutes of the game and increased its lead to 15 points at 27-12. The Tigers clawed back to come within five points 1:46 to go in the first stanza before a pair of late free throws gave State a 33-26 lead going into halftime.

Carter scored 14 of his 20 points in the first half on 4-of-7 shooting and knocking down 4-of-5 at the charity stripe. Weatherspoon and Reggie Perry also played key roles with nine and eight points, respectively.

The second half began at a slower pace with both teams missing baskets early. The Tigers knocked down a 3-pointer to make it 35-30 with 16:38, but a jumper by Abdul Ado made it a seven-point lead for MSU. The Bulldogs built a 10-point lead at 47-37 with 9:37 to go in the game, but the Tigers refused to go down without a fight. Missouri came within five points on a 3-pointer with 8:36 remaining.

State finally pulled away with just over six minutes to go when Weatherspoon knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to push its lead to to 12 points with a score of 56-44. He then knocked down two free throws to increase the lead to 14 points.

Missouri came within six points after a jumper made it 50-44, but Bulldogs responded by going on a 12-0 run to take a commanding 62-44 lead with 3:49 remaining.

MSU held a 20-point lead at 66-46 with 1:55 remaining before closing out with a 68-49 SEC win.

For Carter, he finished with a team-high 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting. He also grabbed three rebounds in the contest. Weatherspoon finished with 20 points, two assists and two rebounds. Perry chipped in with 15 points and a team-high nine rebounds.

The Bulldog defense forced the Tigers to 15 turnevers and MSU capitalized with 13 points on those turners. State also held Missouri to just 32.7 percent shooting in the game.

The Bulldogs will be back in action Saturday when they travel to Auburn, Ala. to face the Auburn Tigers at Auburn Arena. Tip off is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT and will be televised by ESPNU.