STARKVILLE — The 3-pointers wouldn’t stop.

One shot after another, Radford fired away from beyond the arc against Mississippi State Wednesday night. In the first half, it worked and then some.

The Highlanders seemingly had little interest in any look besides a 3-pointer, sinking 11-of-17 first half long range shots en route to taking a four-point halftime lead. In just one half, the Highlanders matched their season-high in 3-pointers made.

“I felt like we were playing the Houston Rockets,” MSU coach Ben Howland said. “Everything was a three.”

Then, MSU made adjustments to the way it played ball screens in the second half, limiting Radford to 4-of-15 from beyond the arc after the break and a 30 percent second-half shooting percentage.

“I thought it helped us make it a little harder on their guards, they couldn’t breathe as easy,” Howland said.

The Bulldogs (8-2) were just good enough offensively down the stretch, using a 10-0 run late to sink the Highlanders 77-68 at Humphrey Coliseum.

Of course, Abdul Ado’s first double-double of the season also helped, as the redshirt junior center scored 17 points and pulled in a 12 rebounds, six on the offensive end. The 17 points for Ado ties a career-high.

“Having Abdul being an offensive threat, it makes a big difference in the game,” MSU forward Robert Woodard II said. “We don’t have to depend so much on the perimeter guys shooting threes and things of that nature.”

In MSU’s first seven games of the year, Ado attempted four shots or less. He’s attempted seven or more in his last three and had scoring outputs of nine, 13 and 17 points.

“I’m having a lot of confidence and being aggressive on the offensive end,” Ado said. “I feel like I help my teammates a lot on defense, so I thought, ‘Why not do the same thing on offense?'”

Sophomore forward Reggie Perry finished with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Woodard II recorded 17 points and nine rebounds. MSU made the most of its chances at the charity stripe, converting 25 of 30 free throws.

Carlik Jones, who came into the contest averaging 20 points per night, led Radford (3-7) with 15 points. The Highlanders shot 42.6 percent from the floor and 30.8 percent in the second half.

MSU recorded 18 offensive rebounds and outrebounded Radford 37-26 in addition to scoring 26 second chance points.

“We emphasize that in practice that the three, four, and five have to go to the glass every time because of our size,” Ado said. “We want to take advantage of that whenever we can.”

Following the victory, MSU is back in action against New Mexico State at 2 p.m. Sunday at Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson.

It will be the first action of the season for junior point guard Nick Weatherspoon, who was suspended for the first 10 games of the year and the final 10 games of last season.

“You can see it’s really worn some guys down playing so many minutes with the fatigue,” Howland said. “I am so happy Nick will be out there with us now. It’s going to be such a huge boost just in terms of spreading minutes out better and the energy and toughness he brings. It makes us a better team without question.”

Hodge is the former sports editor for The Dispatch.