Video: Mississippi State Men’s Basketball Holds Off Short-handed Ole Miss

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STARKVILLE, Miss. (MSU Athletics) – Growing up in the state of Mississippi, Malik Newman and Quinndary Weatherspoon were both aware of the Mississippi State-Ole Miss rivalry before taking the floor at the Humphrey Coliseum.

When the lights came on and both wore the Maroon and White for the first time in the rivalry, each delivered masterful performances.

Newman scored a career-high 25 points and Weatherspoon added his second-best outing with 18 points as MSU used an 11-0 run midway through the second half to ease to an 83-77 victory over Ole Miss before a crowd of 8,932.

“It felt great to come out and get that first (conference) win against a rival,” Newman said. “It was a great game for me. My teammates did a great job of giving me good looks. It was an exciting game, and we really needed that.”

MSU improved to 8-10 overall and 1-5 in conference play, while snapping a five-game losing streak. Ole Miss fell to 12-7 and 2-5. The Bulldogs also halted a four-game losing streak in the series against the Rebels.

“That was a big win for our guys,” MSU coach Ben Howland said. “We started strong at 17-8. Fred Thomas gave us some great minutes in the first half. Malik Newman was fantastic. He took the game over in the second half. I thought he was great the entire game. He was aggressive. Malik let the game come to him. He was spectacular.

“I am happy for the seniors. Gavin (Ware), Fred (Thomas) and Chicken (Craig Sword). It was the last chance they get to play the rival at home. This was a special win for them.”

With the near-capacity crowd already at full throttle, the Bulldogs used an early 13-3 run to build a 17-8 lead. Johnny Zuppardo and Fred Thomas hit back-to-back 3-point baskets to cap the run.

Ole Miss responded with the game’s next 10 points to grab an 18-17 lead.

A dunk by Gavin Ware and follow-up by Weatherspoon built the Bulldogs’ lead back to 21-18. Another dunk by Ware eased the lead to 25-20.

Ole Miss battled back with a 9-2 run for a 29-27 lead. The Rebels continued the hot hand and carried a 38-36 lead into the locker room.

“The crowd was really great today, and we fed off them,” Newman said. “This team really needed this kind of game. We were able to do some things against their zone.”

Ole Miss built a 45-39 lead in the early stages of the second half. The Bulldogs were back within one on a 3-pointer by Weatherspoon and basket by Ware. The Bulldogs took a lead 47-46 on a trey by Newman with 14:25 left.

It was the first of back-to-back 3’s as Newman finished with 20 second-half points and the Bulldogs had a lead at 50-48.

A 3-pointer by Ready kept the crowd alive, capped an 8-0 run and placed the Maroon and White on top 55-48.

After Ole Miss battled back for one last tie at 59, a trey by Newman gave the hosts the lead for good and kick-started the 11-0 run.

For the contest, MSU hit 28 of 54 shots from the field (51.9 percent), 12 of 24 shots from 3-point range (50.0 percent) and 15 of 17 shots from the foul line (88.2 percent). Ole