MSU has easy time in victory
It has been a stressful week for the Mississippi State men's basketball team.
Like all MSU students, the group has spent the last several days finishing up the fall semester with final exams.
With their tests behind them, the Bulldogs let loose on Saturday at Humphrey Coliseum.
NCAA Division II opponent North Georgia was no match for MSU as the Bulldogs cruised to a 95-62 win. Four MSU players scored in double figures and a total of seven guys scored eight or more points as State rolled to the victory.
“Our team was able to play well and we spread out the minutes to a lot of players,” Mississippi State head coach Ben Howland said. “I thought (Quinndary Weatherspoon) had an outstanding game, as did Aric (Holman). I thought KeyShawn (Feazell) was really good. It was good to get him some minutes and get his confidence going.”
Weatherspoon led the Bulldogs with a season-high 22 points. Holman added 13 while Feazell and Lamar Peters each tallied 11.
The contributions didn't stop there. Abdul Ado had a career-best four blocked shots. E.J. Datcher returned after missing a game due to a foot injury and scored eight points.
Even walk-on Nick Singleton had a big day. The junior guard entered late and made three 3-point field goals to finish with a career-high nine points.
Mississippi State (8-0) led from start to finish. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 9-0 lead early and North Georgia played catch-up the rest of the day.
The Nighthawks were simply outmatched. “People may wonder about the reasoning behind playing a non-Division I team, but coming out of finals week the last two years has been poor,” Howland said. “I wanted to make sure that did not happen again so we could get our feet back under us.”
A tougher obstacle now awaits Mississippi State. The Bulldogs will hit the road for the first time this year and put their undefeated record on the line Tuesday night at 6 p.m. at Cincinnati. The Bearcats are currently the No. 17 team in the country.
It's a challenge Mississippi State insists it's looking forward to taking on.
“We're very confident and we're locked in,” Holman said.