Mississippi State Men’s Basketball Beats Nebraska in Opening Round of NIT
By Ethan Lee
Mississippi State Bulldogs Take Down Nebraska Cornhuskers 66 to 59
In the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament, Ben Howland and the Mississippi State Bulldogs came away with a solid win. MSU was hosting the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Humphrey Coliseum last night and State’s defense stifled their opponents.
Nebraska was unable to get anything going all night. The Cornhuskers were cold from behind the three point line, hitting 6 of 22 three point attempts.
And while the Bulldogs shut down Nebraska’s offense, MSU was able to continue to move the ball and score, despite being without their second leading scorer in Nick Weatherspoon. A huge reason for Mississippi State’s success offensively was Lamar Peters. The sophomore point guard made his presence felt and set a school record with assists in postseason play with 14. As a team, the Cornhuskers combined for 10 assists.
Mississippi State’s Front Court Leads the Way
Mississippi State also had a commanding lead on the boards. The Bulldogs out rebounded Nebraska by 47 to 30. When it comes to offensive rebounds, Mississippi State came away with 17 while Nebraska had 11.
13 of Mississippi State’s offensive rebounds came from Aric Holman and freshman center Abdul Ado. Holman and Ado controlled the paint and combined for a total of 31 points as well as 19 rebounds. Holman’s monster night consisted of a double-double of 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 blocks, leading MSU in each category.
Behind Holman in scoring came State’s freshman center, Ado, with 15 points. The third MSU player to make it into double figures scoring was 6-6 guard Xavian Stapleton, who had 12 points on the evening.
Mississippi State will now move on in the NIT. The Bulldogs are set to play top seeded Baylor, who recently came away with a dominant win over Wagner. Should Mississippi State win and advance again, they will then play the winner of Louisville and Middle Tennessee.