JACKSON — Saturday felt like a homecoming for Tyson Carter, Robert Woodard II, Nick Weatherspoon, and Quinndary Weatherspoon.
All four players had state championship moments at Mississippi Coliseum in their high school careers. Each player came up big Saturday night as the No. 17 Mississippi State men’s basketball team beat Wright State 67-63 before a crowd of 3,021.
The Bulldogs (11-1) were sluggish at times but still found a way to win their seventh-straight game. A strong night from the field and a huge rebounding advantage helped the team pull away from a 55-55 tie in the final four minutes.
“There are no excuses,” MSU coach Ben Howland said. “When the ball is in the air, we need to be ready to play. However, this is a good team we defeated. Wright State made the NCAA tournament last year and is picked to win the league again this year. That is why we play games like this.”
MSU looked crisp in hard-fought victories against Cincinnati and Wofford. Again, it was another hard-fought win, but the game wound up much closer than first thought after Nick Weatherspoon hit a 3-pointer for a 38-24 lead in the first minute of the second half.
“We just had to pay a little more attention to the scouting report,” MSU senior center Aric Holman said. “We had to guard better. We were taken off-guard by some things, but we kept battling. That’s the good thing about this team.”
Howland said the Bulldogs’ preparation was thrown off when Wright State center Loudon Love didn’t play. The team’s leading scorer, Love was ruled out minutes before tip because of an ankle injury.
“It’s hard to adapt on the fly,” Howland said. “We had spent two days preparing a game plan built around Love. Wright State is a unique team in that they do something totally different when he doesn’t play. He is a big reason why they are picked to win their league. Honestly, we had a difficult time defending some things when they had to make changes.”
Still, the Bulldogs were dominant in the first 20 minutes.
A basket by KeyShawn Feazell helped the Bulldogs to a 13-5 lead.
Feazell also had good memories to channel from his high school career in the building, too.
The lead grew to 23-11 on a dunk by Quinndary Weatherspoon.
The Bulldogs collected 18 of the first 22 rebounds, shot 50 percent from the field, and led 35-24 at halftime.
“Our offensive flow was good in the first half,” Howland said. “We continued what had been going on the last couple of games. On defense, we just lost their man too many times. That led to some uncontested 3-pointers and a couple of dunks.”
Wright State pulled within two after a 15-3 run.
From there, Nick Weatherspoon came up big with a couple of baskets and a couple of key offensive rebounds. Woodard II gave the team valuable minutes, after Abdul Ado was ruled out with a rib injury suffered in warmups.
Carter also came alive with a critical basket for a 62-59 lead as the shot clock expired.
“It was fun to be back here,” Woodard II. “The arena is just higher in general, so it takes a little time to adjust. We just had to focus and do a great job of closing this game out.”
The Bulldogs did that by hitting 5 of 6 free throws to close out the win.
“If you had told me 11-1 going into the Christmas break, I would have taken that,” Howland said. “We have a played a very challenging schedule. The kids need a few days away from basketball.”
Quinndary Weatherspoon led the Bulldogs with 14 points. Holman added 12, while Peters had 11 and Carter had 10.
Bill Wampler led Wright State (6-7) with 19 points.
MSU will play host to BYU at 11 a.m. Dec. 30 in the Humphrey Coliseum to close the non-conference schedule.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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