Mississippi State Humbled in Home Loss to No. 16 Tennessee

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI/MSU Athletics) – Mississippi State’s six-game win streak at home was snapped by No. 16 Tennessee in a 76-54 loss at Humphrey Coliseum on Senior Night.

The Volunteers improved to 22-7 overall and 12-5 in league play, while MSU fell to 21-9 and 9-8. The Bulldogs lost at home for the second time this season, falling to 18-2 on the home hardwood.

“That was a tough loss against a very good team,” coach Ben Howland said. “Tennessee is so physical. They are smart offensively. They hurt us inside. We had some great opportunities in the first half. We were leading 20-13 and got too sped up. It was a 25-17 lead, and we didn’t handle the rest of the half very well.

“In the first half, we committed too many fouls. In the second half, they took it to us physically on the inside. We were a little impatient. This was a tough lesson and we have to learn from the adversity.”

Quinndary Weatherspoon led the Bulldogs with 17 points, while Nick Weatherspoon added 11 points. Aric Holman added 10 points. Quinndary Weatherspoon also had a team-high six rebounds.

Tennessee was dominant the final 13 minutes of play, hitting 10-straight field goals and 13 of its final 15 shots.

MSU started strong, using a 9-2 run to open an 18-11 lead.

A 3-pointer by Quinndary Weatherspoon ran the Maroon and White lead to a game-best eight points at 25-17 with 9:44 left in the half.

Tennessee used an 8-0 run to tie contest at 25-all. The Bulldogs held two more slim leads before the Volunteers regrouped to take a 40-34 lead at halftime. In the opening half, the Volunteers were 14 of 16 at the foul line.

A pair of Holman free throws brought the Bulldogs within 44-40 with 16:36 left in the contest. A 6-0 run pushed the Volunteers’ lead to 50-40. Tennessee would later use an 8-0 run to stretch the lead to 19 at 64-45 with 8:40 left.

For the contest, MSU hit 20 of 51 shots from the field (39.2 percent), 4 of 20 shots from 3-point range (20.0 percent) and 10 of 16 shots from the foul line (62.5 percent). Tennessee hit 27 of 48 shots from the field (56.3 percent), 4 of 11 shots from 3-point range (36.4 percent) and 18 of 23 shots from the foul line (78.3 percent).

Tennessee held a 34-24 rebounding advantage. The Bulldogs had 6 assists and 13 turnovers, while the Volunteers had 14 assists and 11 turnovers.

Tennessee received 24 points from Admiral Schofield and 12 points from Lamonte Tuner. Grant Williams and Schofield each had a team-high seven rebounds.

MSU will close the regular season with a Noon start Saturday at LSU. That contest will be available nationally on the SEC Network.