Field Level Media
Dec 22, 2018
Quinndary Weatherspoon scored 14 points, and No. 17 Mississippi State held off pesky Wright State 67-63 on Saturday night at Jackson, Miss.
Aric Holman added 12 points, Lamar Peters scored 11 and Tyson Carter had 10 for the Bulldogs (11-1).
Bill Wampler scored 19 and Parker Ernsthausen and Mark Hughes scored 11 each to lead the Raiders (6-7).
Wright State overcame a double-digit, second-half deficit to tie the score at 55 with less than six minutes to play.
Peters made a free throw to break the tie, and Nick Weatherspoon followed with a layup for a three-point Mississippi State lead.
The Raiders got within one point, but Robert Woodard answered with a jumper. They got within one again, but Carter made a jumper.
Wampler made one free throw before Quinndary Weatherspoon and Peters made two each to give Mississippi State a 66-60 lead with 23 seconds left.
Peters added a free throw before the Raiders' Cole Gentry made a 3-pointer to complete the scoring.
Nick Weatherspoon's 3-pointer started the second-half scoring and gave Mississippi State a 38-24 lead.
Hughes and Wampler each made two 3-pointers, and Malachi Smith converted a three-point play during a 15-3 run that got Wright State within 41-39.
The Raiders got within one point before Holman and Peters made back-to-back 3-pointers to conclude a 10-0 run that gave the Bulldogs a 53-42 lead midway through the half.
Wright State chipped away and pulled even at 55 on back-to-back 3-pointers by Wampler and Ernsthausen.
Holman scored the Bulldogs' first three field goals, the last of which gave them the lead for good at 6-5. That started a 9-0 run.
Smith and Wampler made consecutive layups for the Raiders before the Bulldogs started to extend the lead.
Quinndary Weatherspoon made a free throw to start a 13-4 run, which ended with Holman's 3-pointer and a 26-13 lead.
Wright State got within eight points three times before Mississippi State increased the lead again.
Peters' dunk and Nick Weatherspoon's dunk gave the Bulldogs a 35-24 halftime lead.
--Field Level Media