Field Level Media
Jan 27, 2018
Nick Weatherspoon scored all 12 of his points in the second half as Mississippi State broke from a halftime tie and defeated Missouri 74-62 in a Southeastern Conference game Saturday night at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Miss.
Quinndary Weatherspoon led the Bulldogs (15-6, 3-5 SEC) with 20 points, Abdul Ado and Nick Weatherspoon each scored 12, and Tyson Carter had 10. Mississippi State beat the Tigers for the fifth consecutive time.
Kassius Robertson scored 20 points and Cullen VanLeer had 10 for Missouri (13-8, 3-5), which lost its third consecutive game. Jordan Barnett, the Tigers' second-leading scorer with an average of 14.8 points per game, scored just five points on 2-of-10 shooting.
Mississippi State shot 54.7 percent from the floor while Missouri shot 45.6 percent.
The score was tied at 31 at halftime and the Bulldogs started the second half with six consecutive points as Ado made two baskets and Quinndary Weatherspoon made one.
Then Nick Weatherspoon got hot, scoring five consecutive points to help Mississippi State take a 45-36 lead.
The Tigers got within six points on four occasions, but the Bulldogs kept answering. Nick Weatherspoon made three consecutive baskets to give Mississippi State a 62-50 lead.
Jeremiah Tilmon's basket stopped the run and VanLeer added a jumper, but Quinndary Weatherspoon's jumper gave Mississippi State a 64-54 edge with two minutes left.
VanLeer made another 3-pointer, but Nick Weatherspoon made one free throw and Quinndary Weatherspoon sank two to push the lead back to 10 with 1:15 left.
Robertson scored seven points as Missouri started fast and took a 19-12 lead.
Three-point plays by Quinndary Weatherspoon and Carter spurred a 12-2 run that gave Mississippi State a 24-21 lead.
Robertson and Barnett each made a 3-pointer to help the Tigers build a five-point lead before Xavian Stapleton made a 3-pointer and Aric Holman scored on a tip-in with one second left to tie the score at 31 at halftime.
The second half belonged entirely to the Bulldogs.
Mississippi State visits South Carolina on Wednesday, the same night Missouri visits Alabama.
--Field Level Media