National Basketball Association
Mississippi St. 71, Tennessee 66
When: 7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Where: Thompson-Boling Arena, Knoxville, Tennessee
Officials:
# John Hampton, # Doug Shows, # Ted Valentine
Attendance:
13268
By SportsDirect Inc.
Mississippi State 71, Tennessee 66: Craig Sword scored 26 points, making 4-of-5 3-pointers as the visiting Bulldogs snapped a 16-game losing streak for the month of February.
Fred Thomas also connected on 4-of-5 3-pointers en route to 20 points for Mississippi State (11-11, 4-5 SEC), which shot 55.9 percent from the floor and made 8-of-11 3-pointers. I.J. Ready scored eight points and Gavin Ware pulled down eight rebounds for the Bulldogs, who already have surpassed last year's SEC win total when they finished 3-15.
Josh Richardson scored a career-high 30 points on 11-of-19 shooting and also dished off five assists for Tennessee (13-8, 5-4), which has dropped three of its last four games. Kevin Punter scored 10 points and Armani Moore added eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds for the Volunteers, who shot 41.7 percent from the floor.
Richardson scored seven straight points during a 9-0 run to give Tennessee a 41-40 lead with 13 1/2 minutes to go, but Sword and Thomas connected on back-to-back 3-pointers during a 7-0 run to put the Bulldogs back up by eight at the midway point. Tennessee had a chance to tie it with a minute to go, but Derek Reese drove and missed an uncontested dunk and Thomas caught the long rebound and drove for a three-point play that made it 66-61, and the Volunteers never got closer than four points down the stretch.
The first half featured six lead changes and five ties despite the fact the visiting Bulldogs shot a blistering 63 percent from the floor, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range. Sword hit back-to-back jumpers to give Mississippi State its largest lead to that point, 24-19, with a little over five minutes left, but Richardson's 3-pointer capped a 11-6 run by the Vols to tie it before Roquez Johnson's tip-in gave the Bulldogs a 32-30 halftime advantage.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Moore had nine offensive rebounds to give him 20 offensive boards in the last three games. ... Richardson's previous career high was 26 points against Mercer in last year's NCAA Tournament. ... The Vols finished with a 33-26 rebounding edge, including 20 offensive boards that led to a 17-6 edge in second chance points.
Top Game Performances
| Mississippi St. |
|
Tennessee |
|
Craig Sword 26 |
Scoring |
Josh Richardson 30 |
|
Trivante Bloodman 4 |
Assists |
Josh Richardson 5 |
|
Gavin Ware 8 |
Rebounds |
Armani Moore 10 |
|
Craig Sword 8 |
Free Throws Made |
Josh Richardson 6 |
|
Demetrius Houston 3 |
Steals |
Kevin Punter 3 |
|
N/A |
Blocks |
Armani Moore 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Mississippi St.
|
71 |
55.9 |
8-11 |
25-35 |
10 |
24 |
0 |
7 |
18 |
| Tennessee
|
66 |
41.7 |
5-20 |
11-17 |
16 |
29 |
3 |
8 |
14 |
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