STARKVILLE — It took a few minutes for the Mississippi State men’s basketball team to find its rhythm, but when it did, there was no looking back.
In front of an estimated crowd of 3,300 Friday at Humphrey Coliseum, MSU blew past Fort Valley State 95-56 in exhibition play.
Junior guard I.J. Ready paced all scorers with 17 points. He added nine assists. MSU had six players score in double digits, as Quinndary Weatherspoon had 15 points, followed by Craig Sword with 14. Gavin Ware and Johnny Zuppardo had 12 points, while Fred Thomas added 11.
Sword and Zuppardo also had 10 rebounds.
“What really excites me is to see six guys score in double digits,” MSU first-year head coach Ben Howland said. “That means we are spreading the ball around and doing great things.”
The Wildcats led 13-12, but the Bulldogs took the lead for good on a layup by Fallou Ndoye with 11 minutes, 28 seconds left in the opening frame. Ndoye’s basket sparked a 13-1 run.
MSU, which led 47-27 at halftime, won the battle of the boards, 51-31. It didn’t let up to start the second half, using a 16-5 run to extend the lead to 63-32 on a 3-pointer by Ready.
For the game, 12 players saw action with nine scoring.
“I was really pleased overall with our effort,” Howland said. “I thought we did a good job tonight.”
MSU was 37 of 69 from the field, while Fort Valley State was 21 of 60. MSU had 26 assists. Tyler Edwards led Fort Valley State with 10 points.
MSU will play host to Eastern Washington at 8 p.m. Friday (SEC Network). The game is part of a doubleheader with the women’s basketball team. The MSU women will play host to Samford at 5:15 p.m.
Tickets for the doubleheader are $15.
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