Video: Mississippi State Men’s Basketball Tops Tulane

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STARKVILLE, Miss. (MSU Athletics/WCBI Sports) – An 18-2 run in the second half lifted the Mississippi State men’s basketball team past Tulane on Saturday, 69-59.

Malik Newman paced MSU with 15 points, followed by Craig Sword and Gavin Ware with 14 and 12, respectively.

The Bulldogs (5-5) snapped a two-game losing streak, while improving to 4-1 at home this season. MSU has two non-conference games remaining before Southeastern Conference play begins Jan. 6 against Texas A&M.

Tulane scored the game’s first four points and remained tied or in the lead until a 3-pointer by Newman placed the Bulldogs on top 14-13. The lead switch hands a couple of times before the Bulldogs moved ahead 26-23 on a 3-pointer by Travis Daniels and layup by Ware.

The Bulldogs continued a strong shoot first half and eased into halftime with a 40-34 lead. In the opening half, the Bulldogs were 5 of 11 from 3-point range.

Tulane quickly erased the halftime deficit with six points over the first two minutes of the second half. The Green Wave took advantage of the Bulldogs’ offensive struggles to grab a 54-45 lead.

The Bulldogs took over matters when strong play both ends of the floor. A jumper by Quinndary Weatherspoon gave MSU the lead for good at 55-54 with 8:14 left.

A 3-pointer by Thomas and three points by Ware eventually sent the lead to double digits at 66-56 with 2:10 left.

For the contest, the Bulldogs hit 21 of 55 shots from the field (38.2 percent), 7 of 18 shots from 3-point range (38.9 percent) and 20 of 26 shots from the foul line (76.9 percent). The Green Wave hit 25 of 61 shots from the field (41.0 percent), 4 of 24 shots from 3-point range (16.7 percent) and 5 of 11 shots from the foul line (45.5 percent).

The teams were even at 39 in rebounds. MSU had 13 assists and nine turnovers, while Tulane had 11 assists and nine turnovers.

Ware had a team-high nine rebounds, falling one shy of a double-double.

Tulane (6-6) received 20 points from Dylan Osetkowski and 11 points from Malik Morgan. Morgan also had a double-double as he pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.

MSU will close its pre-Christmas schedule with a Wednesday contest against Northern Colorado. The teams meet at 7 p.m. at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson. The contest will be available nationally on the SEC Network.