Southern University Shocks MSU Men’s Basketball

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STARKVILLE, Miss. (MSU Athletics) – A hot-shooting Southern University basketball team put a damper on Malik Newman’s collegiate debut at Mississippi State.

A 12-0 run midway through the second half lifted to the Jaguars past the Bulldogs 76-72 before a crowd of 5,895 at Humphrey Coliseum Monday night.

“It was a disappointing loss against a team that I was impressed with,” MSU coach Ben Howland said. “Credit to Southern for their toughness. They came at us and took it to us on our home floor. It is all about defense. That is the problem right now.

“We allowed them to shoot 57 percent from the floor in the first half. Our defense is what we are struggling with. We also had too many turnovers.”

In his debut, Newman played 17 minutes, scored six points on 2 of 8 shooting from the field and 1 of 6 shooting at the foul line. Newman had two rebounds, three assists and four turnovers.

“He has been out of practice,” Howland said. “You can’t have timing if you haven’t been out there playing five-on-five for a couple of weeks. He is disappointed in that we lost and how he played. He’s a great competitor and a tough kid. We need him.”

Southern built an early 7-2 lead before MSU responded to take its first lead at 11-10 on a Travis Daniels’ 3-point basket. The Jaguars continued to excel with their inside game and continued to maintain a slight lead.

A jumper by Johnny Zuppardo and free throw by Newman placed the Bulldogs on top 17-16. Southern responded for a 23-18 lead on a putback by Chris Thomas with 10:10 left in the half.

A 3-pointer by Fred Thomas placed the Bulldogs on top 26-25. The Jaguars followed with a 14-6 run to take a 39-32 lead. Southern kept a similar push over the final 4:01, grabbing a 45-40 lead at halftime.

In the opening half, the Jaguars hit 17-of-30 shots from the field, including a 4 of 8 half from 3-point range. The Bulldogs hit 6 of 13 first-half shots from 3-point range but could not get enough offensive stops.

Another Thomas trey gave the Bulldogs a 49-48 lead less than two minutes into the second half. The Jaguars followed with a 7-0 run for a 55-49 lead. The Bulldogs tied things up with back-to-back 3-pointers from Newman and Zuppardo.

A 3-point play by Quinndary Weatherspoon pushed the Maroon and White to its largest lead at 61-57 with 10:08 left in the contest.

Southern responded with a 12-0 run over the next four minutes for a 69-61 lead.
Still, the Bulldogs turned it up with some full-court pressure on the defensive end to get some easy turnovers. The Bulldogs were back within three at 73-70 on a layup by Ready with 1:56 left. Another layup by Ready brought the home team within 74-72. However, the Bulldogs missed their final four shots from the field.

For the contest, the Bulldogs hit 23 of 60 shots from the field (38.3 percent), 11 of 31 shots from 3-point range (35.5 percent) and 15 of 23 shots from the foul line (65.2 percent). The Jaguars hit 29 of 62 shots from the field (46.8 percent), 6 of 14 shots from 3-point range (42.9 percent) and 12 of 20 shots from the foul line (60.0 percent).

MSU held a 44-34 rebounding advantage. The Bulldogs had 12 assists and 19 turnovers, while the Jaguars had 10 assists and eight turnovers.

Craig Sword finished with 16 points, while Gavin Ware had 13 points for the Bulldogs. Daniels just missed a double-double with 9 points and 10 rebounds.

Southern received 18 points from Trelun Banks, 16 points from Adrian Rodgers and 10 points from Jared Sam.

MSU hits the road for the first time this season when it plays Miami at 4 p.m. Thursday in the opening-round of the San Juan Puerto Rico Tip-off. The contest will be televised nationally by ESPN2.