Mississippi State’s much anticipated season got underway in fine fashion Friday night at the Humphrey Coliseum, as the Bulldogs shot an incredible 73% from inside the three point line, racking up points in a 95-67 win over Austin Peay in Ben Howland’s fourth opener as head coach. The Bulldogs piled up the buckets despite a disappointing 7-25 from behind the arc, and held the Governors to 39% shooting from the field.
FAMILY SHOWS OFF
Back where he left off, 17th time Q has erupted for over 20 points.#HailState? pic.twitter.com/b3a2yaWJGl
— MSU Men's Basketball ? (@HailStateMBK) November 10, 2018
The Weatherspoon brothers had their way on Friday night, combining for 40 points on 16-25 shooting. Quinndary Weatherspoon was the star of the first half with 13 points, and Nick picked up the slack in the second half with 12 of his own. MSU will be relying on those two to do a lot of scoring this season, so this was a good start.
BACKCOURT BRINGS IT
Lamar Peters told the media in pre-season he wanted to raise his assist to turnover ratio to a high level, preferably four or even five to one. Peters did even better on Friday night, racking up seven dimes to only one turnover. Mississippi State also saw Tyson Carter put 12 points on the board. Mississippi State’s guards are clearly the engine that will drive the Bulldogs to a potential NCAA Tournament berth, and nights like this is what Ben Howland will be looking for.
WHAT’S NEXT?
FINAL | Carroll and Blagojevic each net 16 in 100-73 defeat at Utah State. We head to Mississippi State for a 1pm matchup on Sunday #AEHoops
— Hartford Men’s Basketball (@HartfordMBB) November 10, 2018
Mississippi State gets back to action on Sunday at the Hump, 4:00 PM tipoff against Hartford, who opened their season with a 100-73 defeat at Utah State, a team the Bulldogs could face in a few weeks at the MGM Resorts Main Event tourney out in Las Vegas. The Hawks were 19-14 a season ago, so this appears on paper as another team the Bulldogs can handle with relative ease. Obviously the biggest issue Howland will have to work on between now and then is the poor three point shooting, but if the Bulldogs can attack the rim as successfully as they did tonight, there should be a second win on the docket after Sunday.
