Bulldogs surprise Aggies
For Starkville Daily News
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – A balanced scoring effort lifted the Mississippi State to a huge road win in Southeastern Conference action Tuesday night.
MSU placed four players in double figures and shot 45.6 percent from the floor while knocking off Texas A&M 93-81 at Reed Arena for its first win in the venue.
Abdul Ado led the Bulldogs with 19 points and nine rebounds. Also in double figures were Quinndary Weatherspoon with 17 points, Lamar Peters with 15 points and Aric Holman with 13 points.
MSU improved to 20-8 overall and 8-7 in league play, while Texas A&M fell to 17-11 and 6-9.
“I’m very proud of the guys for a great road win,” State coach Ben Howland said. “Texas A&M is an NCAA Tournament team. Rebounding is an effort stat and it is big that we were plus-11 on the boards. That and how we shared the basketball were the keys to the victory.”
The Bulldogs led the final 33 minutes in their most impressive road win of the season.
Texas A&M built an early 7-2 lead before MSU surged ahead at 14-12 on a 3-pointer by former Starkville High School player Tyson Carter. Carter capped an 8-1 run with a pair of free throws for a 22-14 lead.
The lead grew to 11 at 27-16 on a threepoint play by Eli Wright. The Bulldogs led by 11 twice more before a late rally cut the halftime deficit to 41-39.
Things were nip-and-tuck for a while in the second half before a 9-0 run gave the Bulldogs a 65-54 lead with 10:17 left.
The Aggies got no closer than seven points the rest of the way.
For the contest, MSU hit 31 of 68 shots from the field (45.6 percent), 8 of 22 shots from 3-point range (36.4 percent) and 23 of 29 shots from the foul line (73.9 percent). Texas A&M hit 30 of 59 shots from the field (50.8 percent), 5 of 17 shots from 3-point range (29.4 percent) and 16 of 28 shots from the foul line (57.1 percent).
MSU held a 44-31 rebounding advantage. The Bulldogs had 19 assists and nine turnovers, while the Aggies had 13 assists and nine turnovers.
The Bulldogs will host South Carolina at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. That contest will be available nationally on the SEC Network.