National Basketball Association
Lehigh 87, Mississippi St. 73
When: 8:00 PM ET, Friday, November 25, 2016
Where: Humphrey Coliseum, Starkville, Mississippi
Officials:
# Sean Casey, # Mike Nance, # Garrick Shannon
Attendance:
6697
By The Sports Xchange
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- In Mississippi State's first game since its leading scorer suffered a season-ending injury, Lehigh placed five scorers in double figures and rolled to an 87-73 victory over the Bulldogs on Friday night at Humphrey Coliseum.
The Mountain Hawks (2-2) picked up the program's first win over an SEC school as junior guard Kahlon Ross and sophomore guard Kyle Leufroy scored 18 points apiece to pace a balanced attack.
Senior guard Austin Price added 14 points and senior power forward Tim Kempton, the nation’s No. 8 scorer at 26.3 points per game, came through late to finish with 13 points for Lehigh.
Mississippi State (3-2) played without sophomore guard Quinndary Weatherspoon, the team's top scorer (18.8 ppg) who was declared out for the season on Monday after suffering ligament damage to his left wrist.
Senior guard I.J. Ready (20 points, five assists) and freshman guard Tyson Carter (16 points) tried to pick up the slack for Weatherspoon, but Mississippi State didn't have the firepower to hang with the Mountain Hawks.
The Bulldogs shot 41 percent from the field and 7 of 22 from 3-point range. Conversely, Lehigh made 52 percent of its shots from the floor and 11 of 26 3-pointers.
Lehigh's record belied its ability. The Patriot League favorites lost their opener by three points at No. 9 Xavier and entered Friday's game shooting 45.6 percent from 3-point range.
Mississippi State took its biggest lead at 17-12 on Carter's jumper with 12:52 left in the first half. Lehigh replied with an 8-0 run capped by Kempton’s jumper with 8:23 left. Price sank 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to stake the Mountain Hawks to a 31-20 lead with 2:55 to go.
Price drilled all three of his first-half 3-point attempts and Leufroy canned both of his 3-point tries to stake Lehigh to a 38-29 halftime lead.
Ross took his turn at the outset of the second half as he provided a 3-point play, a 3-pointer and a layup to keep Lehigh ahead 48-38 with 17:35 left.
Ready stroked a jumper to pull the Bulldogs within 50-43 with 15:27 left, but freshman forward Pat Andree answered with a 3-pointer to restore Lehigh's lead to 10. The Mountain Hawks maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
Top Game Performances
| Lehigh |
|
Mississippi St. |
|
Kyle Leufroy 18 |
Scoring |
I.J. Ready 20 |
|
Kahron Ross 5 |
Assists |
I.J. Ready 5 |
|
Matt Holba 8 |
Rebounds |
Mario Kegler 9 |
|
Tim Kempton 3 |
Free Throws Made |
Tyson Carter 4 |
|
Brandon Alston 1 |
Steals |
Tyson Carter 2 |
|
Austin Price 1 |
Blocks |
Tyson Carter 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Lehigh
|
87 |
51.5 |
11-26 |
8-8 |
16 |
35 |
2 |
6 |
11 |
| Mississippi St.
|
73 |
41.3 |
7-22 |
14-17 |
8 |
29 |
3 |
5 |
10 |
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