Mississippi St. downs D-II N. Georgia 95-62, still unbeaten (Dec 09, 2017)
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) Quinndary Weatherspoon had a season-high 22 points and Mississippi State remained undefeated with a 95-62 victory Saturday over Division II North Georgia at Humphrey Coliseum.
Weatherspoon was 8 of 11 from the field and made all four of his 3 point attempts. Mississippi State (8-0) now is just one of seven undefeated teams in the Division I ranks.
''I've been confident all year,'' Weatherspoon said. ''They've just been going in and out. Tonight they finally fell and I hope that boosts me for the rest of the year. My teammates did a good job setting me up in a good position.''
Aric Holman had 13 points for the Bulldogs while Lamar Peters and KeyShawn Feazell each had 11. Peters also tied a career high with seven rebounds and had a game-high six assists. As a team, the Bulldogs blocked nine shots, including a career-best four blocks by freshman Abdul Ado.
Lanre Olatunji was the lone player in double digits for North Georgia (2-5) and he finished with 10 points.
''I thought our defense to start the game was very good, they struggled to score,'' Mississippi State head coach Ben Howland said. ''We really shared the ball well in the first half and did a good job making plays for each other.''
The Bulldogs led by as many as 38 points in the second half. For the game, Mississippi State shot 50 percent from the field and made 13 of 30 shots beyond the arc. North Georgia shot just 38 percent and had 16 turnovers. The Nighthawks also missed all five of their free-throw attempts.
Mississippi State grabbed control from the start and scored the first nine points. The Bulldogs led by as many as 31 points in the first half and settled into a 53-26 advantage at halftime.
In the first half, the Bulldogs shot 57 percent from the floor and made 6 of 12 shots beyond the arc. North Georgia managed to shoot just 34 percent before the break and also had eight turnovers.
BIG PICTURE
North Georgia: Saturday's game did not count on the official schedule for North Georgia and was considered an exhibition game.
Mississippi State: The Bulldogs' 8-0 start is the program's best since winning the first 13 games of the 2003-04 season.
UP NEXT
North Georgia continues its road schedule and will travel to Flagler College Dec. 16.
Mississippi State takes to the road for the first time this season to face Cincinnati on Tuesday.
