Little Rock Trojans vs Mississippi State Bulldogs Box Score on Dec 20, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Dec 20, 2017

On a night when offense was at a premium, Quinndary Weatherspoon took matters into his own hands and Mississippi State's defense made sure there would not be an upset as the Bulldogs defeated Arkansas-Little Rock 64-48 on Wednesday at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Miss.

Weatherspoon finished with 21 points and carried the first-half load for the Bulldogs, scoring 13 of their 26 first-half points. After intermission, he got plenty of help as Mississippi State (10-1) pulled away and breezed past the Trojans (3-10).

Leading only 26-23 to start the second half, the Bulldogs came out of the locker room on a mission, outscoring the Trojans 26-10 to take a commanding 52-33 lead.

Weatherspoon opened the second half with consecutive baskets. Aric Holman followed with a layup before the Trojans' Damir Hadzic connected on a jumper. After Oliver Black's dunk, Little Rock was within five at 32-27.

That's as close as the Trojans would get.

Nick Weatherspoon's 3-point jumper, his first points of the game, ignited the Bulldogs and before the Trojans could recover, Mississippi State was ahead 47-31.

Hadzic paced the Trojans with nine points.

Mississippi State converted 21 Little Rock turnovers into 25 points.

To say both team's offenses struggled in the first half would be an understatement. Mississippi State made 6 of 25 field goal attempts, including 3 of 12 from 3-point range. The Bulldogs went to the free-throw line and made only 11 of 18.

Yet, they held a 26-23 lead at halftime.

That's because the Trojans made only 10 of 28 from the field and 3 of 11 from beyond the arc. They also missed the only two first-half free throws they attempted.

Both teams struggled shooting free throws. Mississippi State made only 15 of 27 while Little Rock went to the line only 10 times, making four.