STARKVLLE — After a 67-65 loss to East Tennessee State last week, Mississippi State men’s basketball coach Ben Howland saw his team attack practice with new purpose.
The loss to ended the Bulldogs’ three-game winning streak. MSU followed that game with an 86-44 win against Southern Mississippi on Monday night at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson. The Bulldog hit a school-record 17 3-pointers. MSU (7-3) will try to start a new winning streak at 6 tonight (SEC Network) when it plays host to Morehead State (3-8) in its next-to-last non-conference game.
“We needed that because we needed the practice,” Howland said Monday night. “Our practices leading into East Tennessee were in the middle of finals week and they were not what you want. I hate we had to have the sting of defeat to get what we needed in practice in terms of the mentality, but we had to get that back.”
Sophomore guard and Louisiana Tech transfer Xavian Stapleton had eight points on 3-of-5 shooting in 11 minutes in his first game of the season. Stapleton is coming off two knee surgeries that kept him sidelined for practice.
Sophomore guard/forward Quinndary Weatherspoon leads the Bulldogs with 17.4 points per game. Sophomore forward Aric Holman is averaging 10.6 points and a team-high 6.6 rebounds.
Morehead State coach Sean Woods resigned last Thursday after an independent investigation into allegations by two players that Woods assaulted them. He was charged with misdemeanor battery in Indiana. He had been suspended since Nov. 22.
Preston Spradlin was named interim coach and the Eagles have gone 1-6 since. Morehead State snapped an eight-game losing streak Monday with a 111-85 home victory against Central Arkansas.
Senior guard Xavier Moon leads the Eagles with 14.5 ppg.
MSU will play host to Missouri-Kansas City on Dec. 29 before starting Southeastern Conference play against Alabama on Jan. 3 in Starkville.
Howland said he will give his team three days off to celebrate Christmas before returning to practice.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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