STARKVILLE — Quinndary Weatherspoon went 1-for-8 from the field and missed all five of his 3-pointers.
Weatherspoon’s teammates on the Mississippi State men’s basketball team didn’t fare much better, combining to go 3-for-18 from behind the arc.
MSU coach Ben Howland’s squad also played Monday without guard Xavian Stapleton, who missed his second-consecutive game with a knee injury.
Still, MSU four players in double figures and shot 46 percent from the field in a 77-68 victory against Green Bay before a crowd of 6,359 at Humphrey Coliseum.
“We can win without Q (two points) being our leading scorer, and that was huge. I was excited about that,” Howland said. “It’s because you’re defending. If we can defend like that on a night-in, night-out basis, we have a chance to be really successful.”
Lamar Peters led MSU (3-0) with 18 points and three steals. Aric Holman added 13 points and five rebounds, Abdul Ado had 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Nick Weatherspoon had 10 points, five rebounds and four assists for the Bulldogs, who are in the middle playing three games in five days at home.
Howland also was pleased MSU can turn to Ado. Playing in his second college game, the 6-foot-11 redshirt freshman from Lagos, Nigeria, recorded his first double-double. He scored MSU’s first seven points in the first four minutes and assisted on its first basket. His opening surge helped the Bulldogs build a 15-point lead before two fouls sent him to the bench after eight minutes. In Ado’s absence, Green Bay (1-2) cut the deficit to eight.
Ado also led MSU’s charge on the glass, collecting six of the team’s 11 offensive rebounds that led to 10 second-chance points. Many of the offensive rebounds came after Green Bay surprised MSU with a 1-3-1 zone it didn’t run last year and Howland went over for one play in the walkthrough earlier in the day.
Even without the reps, Ado knew what to do.
“Coach Howland always tells us to crash the boards,” Ado said. “When I realized it was a mismatch, I put it on myself to go after it every time — make or miss, always go after the offensive rebound.”
While the offensive rebounds help keep Green Bay at a distance, Peters also played a key role. The sophomore guard was 1-for-7 from 3-point range, but he had two crucial dribble-drive layups in the final three minutes to put the game away.
“I just wanted to be aggressive,” Peters said. “Early, I feel like I settled for some quick threes when I could’ve gotten into the paint. In the second half I wanted to get inside.”
MSU will conclude its home stretch at 7 p.m. Wednesday when it plays host to Stephen F. Austin, a team Howland holds in high regard.
“They’re an NCAA tournament team,” he said. “They’re older, they’re athletic.”
Howland also thinks the recent schedule has benefitted Stephen F. Austin. While MSU has played two home games in the last three days, Stephen F. Austin has spent the last five days beating sub-Division I competition by an average of 33.3 points per game. Stephen F. Austin also defeated winless Division I Longwood in its season opener.
“They’ve been sitting there preparing for us for a week,” Howland said. “We’re going to need everything we got to be successful against them.”
Howland said he doesn’t anticipate Stapleton playing Wednesday. He said trainers told him they have seen improvement, but MSU is remaining cautious.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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