National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Mississippi St. 71, Utah St. 63
When: 1:00 PM ET, Saturday, November 22, 2014
Where: Humphrey Coliseum, Starkville, Mississippi
Officials: # Pat Evans, # Karl Hess, # Mike Nance
Attendance: 7240

Mississippi State 71, Utah State 63:
Roquez Johnson and Fred Thomas had 15 points apiece as the Bulldogs held off the visiting Aggies.

Gavin Ware added 12 points, including 10 in the second half, for Mississippi State (3-0), which avenged last season’s 87-68 road loss to Utah State (3-1). The Bulldogs, who also received nine points from reserve Fallou Ndoye, eight rebounds from Ware and seven points and eight boards from Travis Daniels, dominated down low with a 38-21 rebounding advantage.

Guards Darius Perkins and Chris Smith each scored 14, including a combined seven 3-pointers, to pace the Aggies, who have lost two of their three all-time meetings with the Bulldogs. Utah State hit 10 treys overall, but leading scorer David Collette had only six points – 10 points below his average – and was hampered by foul trouble most of the contest.

The Aggies led 38-34 at the half and quickly extended their advantage to 41-34 on a 3-pointer by Smith before Mississippi State scored the next eight points to send the game into a see-saw stretch of ties and lead changes. Collette’s jumper with six minutes to play gave Utah State it’s final lead at 58-57, but the hosts reeled off another 8-0 run to take control and the Aggies never got closer than four over the final two minutes.

Both teams were on target early in a back-and-forth game but Mississippi State took advantage of a seven-minute scoring drought from the turnover-plagued visitors to take a 27-21 lead on Thomas’ jumper with just under five minutes left in the opening half. Perkins got hot and connected on trio of 3-pointers as Utah State closed out the stanza with a 17-7 run to take the four-point lead into the break.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Guard I.J. Ready, who missed Mississippi State’s first two games while recovering from off-season back surgery, had two points, three assists and a pair of steals off the bench. … Mississippi State is now 5-6 all-time against Mountain West Conference opponents, while Utah State is 5-13 against SEC foes. … The Bulldogs, who entered the season with a six-game home losing streak, have notched all three of their wins in Starkville.

Top Game Performances
 
Utah St.   Mississippi St.
Darius Perkins 14 Scoring Roquez Johnson 15
David Collette 3 Assists Trivante Bloodman 6
Chris Smith 4 Rebounds Travis Daniels 8
Chris Smith 5 Free Throws Made Trivante Bloodman 6
Henry Bolton 2 Steals Travis Daniels 2
David Collette 2 Blocks Gavin Ware 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Utah St. 63 42.6 10-27 13-17 12 16 4 7 13
Mississippi St. 71 46.2 4-15 19-27 12 33 2 7 12