STARKVILLE — The Mississippi State men’s basketball team had to develop a new identity for two games.
With leading scorer Quinndary Weatherspoon sidelined with a wrist injury, the Bulldogs had to find a way to make up for the sophomore guard’s 18.8 points per game.
MSU hopes it won’t have to play assume that identity again.
On Thursday, Weatherspoon returned to action and had a game-high 21 points in a 74-57 victory against Oregon State.
“He’s our best player. It’s pretty clear,” MSU coach Ben Howland said. “He’s our best defender, and the way he shot the ball in the first half, you thought he would never have missed a beat.”
Weatherspoon, who was 6 of 7 from the field and 4 of 5 from 3-point range against the Beavers, will try to play the rest of the season with a torn Scapholunate ligament in his left wrist and have surgery after the season. Weatherspoon will get his next chance to play with the injury at 4 p.m. today (SEC Network+) when MSU (5-2) plays host to Georgia State (4-2) at Humphrey Coliseum.
MSU lost to Lehigh (87-73) and beat Northwestern State (65-59) without Weatherspoon. Against Lehigh, MSU shot 41.3 percent (26 of 63) from the field and 31.8 percent (7 of 22) from 3-point range. Against Northwestern State, MSU shot 46.2 percent (24 of 52) from the field and 13.3 percent (2 of 15) from 3-point range.
Against the Beavers, the Bulldogs shot 50.0 percent (22 of 44) from the field and 57.9 percent (11 of 19) from 3-point range.
“I think more than anything, he brings a confidence to our young group and real toughness and winning mentality. He’s very unselfish,” Howland said.
With Weatherspoon out, senior point guard I.J. Ready led MSU in scoring with 20 points against Lehigh and 14 against Northwestern State.
Freshman Mario Kegler had 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting and 1 of 3 from 3-point range against Lehigh and eight points on 4-of-12 shooting against Northwestern State. Against the Demons, he was 0 of 3 from behind the 3-point line.
Kegler scored 12 points and was 4 of 5 from the field and 2 of 2 from 3 against the Beavers.
“I feel like everyone was keying in on (Weatherspoon), and I just took what the defense gave me,” Kegler said. “They were keeping me open, so I was knocking shots down.”
Senior forward Jeremy Hollowell leads Georgia State in scoring (15.8 ppg.).
Howland said the victory against Oregon State was the first step and his team has to build off the effort. With Weatherspoon back in the lineup, Howland is excited about the future.
“I was so excited about our effort, and you could see how excited our players were for each other in that first half,” Howland said. “It was a really good team effort, and I was pleased with our team.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.