STARKVILLE — Mississippi State men’s basketball coach Ben Howland didn’t want to go into the Christmas holiday with a loss.
But he wasn’t feeling good about a victory at halftime as his team trailed Morehead State by 10 and didn’t seem to have much life. Howland credited Morehead with keeping MSU off balance both offensively and defensively.
Howland didn’t rip into his players at halftime, instead he spoke to them calmly about a few things they could improve on, including guarding better and taking better shots. The Bulldogs responded and erased the halftime deficit to come out with an 85-76 win over the Eagles Thursday night at Humphrey Coliseum.
“I’m very pleased that we were able to fight back after being down by 10,” Howland said. “We really came out flat, but they had a lot to do with that. You have to give them a lot of credit. Our defense was much better in the second half.”
Had to rally
The Bulldogs (8-3) trailed 41-31 at halftime as the Eagles (3-9) shot 57.1 percent (16 of 28) from the field and 50 percent (5 of 10) from 3-point range. The Bulldogs shot 44.8 percent (13 of 29) and 12.5 percent (1 of 8) from 3-point range in the opening half.
Trailing 45-40, MSU went on a 15-3 run to take a 52-48 lead. Tyson Carter, a Starkville native, knocked down a 3-pointer with 14 minutes, 28 seconds remaining to give the Bulldogs a 49-48 lead — their first lead since 14-11 with under 12 minutes remaining in the first half.
MSU outscored Morehead State 54-35 in the second half and held Morehead State to 42.9 percent shooting (12 of 28).
“We just had to come out and play defense. We didn’t play defense in the first half and we came out sluggish,” MSU sophomore guard/forward Quinndary Weatherspoon said. “(Howland) just wanted us to come out and play hard in the second half and let the defense lead to the offensive end.”
Lots of turnovers
MSU forced 16 turnovers and scored 24 points off those Morehead miscues. MSU turned the ball over five times, the lowest since turning it over five times against Florida Atlantic on Nov. 30, 2010.
The Eagles didn’t go away quietly in the second half though. Trailing 56-51, the Eagles went on a 9-4 run to tie the game at 60. Aric Holman knocked down a free throw to give MSU a 61-60 lead — a lead the Bulldogs never lost — to start a 9-2 run.
“We just had to calm down,” Holman said. “They had a big lead, but in the second half we realized that all we have to do is just pick up the intensity, be patient on offense and see things through.”
Weatherspoon scored a career-high 27 points and made a career-high 10 field goals. Weatherspoon made four free throws down the stretch to help put the game away.
“I felt good,” Weatherspoon said. “I felt good the previous night in Jackson, so I’m just trying to keep working and getting better day-by-day.”
Weatherspoon suffered a torn ligament in his left wrist and was expected to miss the rest of the season. After missing two games he returned. Weatherspoon said his wrist has been sore a lot, but he said he will continue to play through the pain.
Senior was ready
MSU senior point guard I.J. Ready scored 19 points — one shy of his career-high. He scored MSU’s final eight points, including six-straight free throws.
MSU’s first three-made field goals in the second half were 3-pointers. Weatherspoon got MSU going with a 3, followed by a Xavian Stapleton 3 and a Ready 3.
“It gave us some momentum, boom,” Howland said. “We were shooting bad 3s in the first half, but the 3s in the second half were better shots.”
MSU made a school record 17 3-pointers in a 86-44 win over Southern Mississippi Monday night in the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson. MSU was 5 of 20 (25 percent) from behind the arc against Morehead.
Holman scored 12 points and had a team-high six rebounds.
The Bulldogs got back-to-back dunks from Weatherspoon and Holman in the first half to cut the Eagle lead to 23-22. But Morehead went on a 12-3 run to take a 35-25 lead with 4:20 remaining.
Xavier Moon led the Eagles with 22 points on 9 of 14 shooting. Lamontray Harris scored 20 points off the bench, while Jordan Walker added 10 points.
After making his MSU debut Monday, Stapleton drew his first start with his new team. Howland started Stapleton instead of Mario Kegler because of a disciplinary issue. Howland said Kegler will start in MSU’s next game 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 29 (SEC Network+), in the Hump. Kegler scored seven points on 3 of 8 shooting. He was 0 of 4 from 3-point range and 1 of 5 from the free throw line.
Winning ways
MSU has won five of its last six, with the lone loss being a 67-65 decision against East Tennessee State. The Buccaneers got a tip-in at the buzzer to walk out of Starkville with a win.
Howland is giving his team off today, Saturday and Sunday for Christmas and said they will report back on Monday to get ready for the last non-conference game and the start of Southeastern Conference play.
“I’m really happy for our team. It would have been really tough to go into Christmas off a home loss. That would have been brutal for me and everybody,” Howland said.
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 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.