Mississippi State holds off Georgia, 72-57
Lamar Peters scored a game-high 20 points and Mississippi State rolled to a 16-point halftime lead and held off Georgia, 72-57, in an SEC game Saturday in Starkville , Miss.
Mississippi State (17-6, 5-5 SEC) surpassed its overall victory total from last season. Quinndary Weatherspoon and Nick Weatherspoon added 14 points each and Aric Holman scored 12. MSU, which had lost its last six games against Georgia, hosts Alabama on Tuesday.
Yante Maten, the SEC’s leading scorer with an average of 19.6 points per game, had 11 in the second half and finished with 13, matching Tyree Crump’s total to lead Georgia. Pape Diatta came off the bench to score 12 by making all four of his 3-point field-goal attempts.
Georgia (13-9, 4-6), which was coming off a 72-60 home victory against No. 23 Florida last Tuesday, lost for the fourth time in five games. It visits Vanderbilt on Wednesday.
MSU led, 37-21, at halftime, but Maten started the second-half scoring with a jumper for his first field goal and Georgia quickly got within 11 points.
Nick Weatherspoon scored three baskets as MSU rebuilt the lead to 51-32.
Three times Maten made a basket to get Georgia within 13 points and each time MSU had an answer.
MSU extended the lead to 16 before another basket by Maten and a 3-pointer by Crump got Georgia within 63-52 with 5:33 remaining.
Holman scored four points as MSU took a 68-54 lead with 4:10 left.
Both teams went scoreless before Diatta’s 3-pointer cut the lead to 68-57 with 2:37 left, but two free throws by Quinndary Weatherspoon and a layup by Peters put MSU in command.
Peters scored 11 points as MSU took a 24-11 lead midway through the first half.
Diatta made two 3-pointers as Georgia got within 28-18.
Nick Weatherspoon scored five points and Quinndary Weatherspoon added four down the stretch to halftime.
Maten had just two first-half points, missing all three of his field-goal attempts.
--Field Level Media