No. 17 Mississippi State beats Wofford for 7th straight win

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Lamar Peters is making 3-point range look like a layup drill.

Peters made five more 3s and scored 19 points, helping No. 17 Mississippi State beat Wofford 98-87 on Wednesday night for its seventh consecutive win.

Aric Holman also had 19 points for the Bulldogs (10-1), who rallied from a 12-point deficit early in the second half. Quinndary Weatherspoon made 14 of 15 foul shots on his way to 18 points, and Nick Weatherspoon and Reggie Perry each had 12 points.

Peters also had eight assists and two steals. The 6-foot point guard is 24 for 39 from beyond the arc over his last four games.

"My teammates passed up some good looks to give me good looks," Peters said after going 5 for 7 from deep against the Terriers. "So I wanted to knock those shots down and help us out. My teammates picked me up and told me to just keep moving forward."

Mississippi State trailed 53-41 after Nathan Hoover made a 3 for Wofford early in the second half. Peters and Holman then started to heat up, and the Bulldogs put together an 18-3 run. Quinndary Weatherspoon made two free throws to give Mississippi State a 65-58 lead with 11:43 left.

"All I can say is 'wow'," Mississippi State coach Ben Howland said. "What a tough game and what a difficult game. I was pretty clear the other day in saying how good they are. We are a pretty good defensive team but we could not stop them in the first half. They made some incredible shots. But how we started the second half with our defense is how we got back in the game."

Fletcher Magee scored 24 points for Wofford (9-4), and Cameron Jackson finished with 20. Hoover had 15 points for the Terriers in their first-ever meeting with Mississippi State.

Wofford shot 62 percent in the first half and led 50-41 at the break. But it couldn't keep up with Mississippi State down the stretch.

"I think Mississippi State is awfully, awfully good and Wofford is good, too," Wofford coach Mike Young said. "Both teams will win a lot of games. When Mississippi State's guys put their head down and drive, those guys are tough and they are good players. Physically, Mississippi State was a force and I hope we don't have to face them in the NCAA Tournament."

BY THE NUMBERS

Wofford shot 54.4 percent (31 for 57) from the field, including 13 for 22 from deep. Mississippi State shot 57.1 percent (28 for 49) and 14 for 27 from beyond the arc.

Led by Quinndary Weatherspoon, the Bulldogs were 28 of 36 at the line and Wofford was 12 of 14.

BIG PICTURE

Wofford: The Terriers had won seven of eight. They dropped to 1-1 against the SEC after beating South Carolina and losing to the Bulldogs.

Mississippi State: The Bulldogs have just two nonconference games left before SEC play, and they are playing their best basketball of the season. In the last four games, Mississippi State has made 59 of 110 beyond the arc.

UP NEXT

Wofford gets a 10-day break before returning to action next Saturday at Western Carolina in Southern Conference action.

Mississippi State faces Wright State in Jackson, Mississippi, on Saturday.