Mississippi State Bulldogs vs Vanderbilt Commodores Box Score on Jan 19, 2019

Quinndary Weatherspoon had 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists as No. 24 Mississippi State cruised past Vanderbilt 71-55 Saturday night at Nashville.

Mississippi State (14-3, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) also got 10 points apiece from Tyson Carter and Aric Holman, with Holman adding a game-high nine rebounds. The Bulldogs never trailed, turned it over just nine times and had an 18-2 edge in points off turnovers.

Mississippi State snapped Vanderbilt's four-game home winning streak in the series.

Vanderbilt (9-8, 0-5) had a miserable offensive evening. The Commodores, led by 13 points from Saben Lee and 11 from Aaron Nesmith, hit 36.7 percent from the floor and 53.8 percent from the free-throw line.

Bulldogs starting point guard Lamar Peters picked up his third foul just 56 seconds into the second half after a steal attempt and then a fourth on a technical after stomping his foot in protest of the call.

But it didn't matter.

Though Mississippi State's lead shrunk to seven minutes later, Vanderbilt failed to string together any type of offensive momentum. The Commodores began to mail it in on defense, too.

After a Nesmith missed three, Holman ripped down a rebound and found Reggie Perry streaking for a layup on the other end without a defender in sight. That put the Bulldogs up 57-39 with 8:05 remaining as fans started heading for the exits.

The Commodores missed their first eight shots and first three foul shots. Peters canned a three from the right side at the 16:24 mark, giving Mississippi State a 10-0 lead and prompting a Vanderbilt timeout. The Commodores finally got on the board on a tip-in by forward Yanni Wetzell at 15:50.

It didn't get better for a while. Vanderbilt struggled mightily in its half-court offense against Mississippi State's man-to-man defense, hitting two of its first 19. Vanderbilt didn't hit a jump shot until Matt Ryan's 3-pointer with 7:24 left before the break.

But still, the Bulldogs led just 35-27 at the half.

--Field Level Media