National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Mississippi St. 57, Vanderbilt 54
When: 4:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 17, 2015
Where: Humphrey Coliseum, Starkville, Mississippi
Officials: # Kevin Fehr, # Tim Gattis, # Mike Nance
Attendance: 6568

Mississippi State 57, Vanderbilt 54: I.J. Ready led a balanced attack with 11 points as the host Bulldogs snapped a 16-game losing streak in SEC play.

Fred Thomas scored 10 points off the bench for Mississippi State (8-9, 1-3 SEC), which overcame a 12-point first-half deficit despite shooting 38.6 percent overall. Gavin Ware added seven points and a season-high 13 rebounds while Roquez Johnson and Craig Sword chipped in eight points apiece.

Damian Jones scored 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting to pace the Commodores (11-6, 1-3), who have lost three in a row. Riley LaChance added 12 points while the rest of the Vanderbilt starters combined to go 3-of-14 from the floor.

LaChance hit a 3-pointer late in the first half to put Vanderbilt up 26-14 but the hosts scored the final four points of the stanza and were within 29-23 on Travis Daniels' triple early in the second. Thomas' four-point play sparked a 12-0 run capped by a Ware jumper that gave the Bulldogs a 42-35 advantage midway through the half.

Johnson answered Luke Kornet's 3-pointer with a three-point play to put the hosts up 49-43 with under seven minutes left but the Commodores crawled back into a tie at 52 on LaChance's free throws with 97 seconds left. Ready answered with a clutch tiebreaking 3-pointer and then hit two free throws with 9.4 ticks remaining before Wade Baldwin IV missed a 3-point try before the buzzer.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Baldwin's miss on a potential game-tying shot at the end made him 0-of-6 from the floor, including 0-of-5 from beyond the arc. ... Vanderbilt was 9-of-17 from the line while Mississippi State went 20-of-27. ... The Bulldogs' SEC losing streak was the second-longest in league history.
Top Game Performances
 
Vanderbilt   Mississippi St.
Damian Jones 21 Scoring I.J. Ready 11
Wade Baldwin IV 7 Assists Craig Sword 3
Damian Jones 8 Rebounds Gavin Ware 13
Damian Jones 3 Free Throws Made Craig Sword 6
Wade Baldwin IV 4 Steals Roquez Johnson 2
Luke Kornet 1 Blocks Travis Daniels 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Vanderbilt 54 38.5 5-20 9-17 8 22 2 8 7
Mississippi St. 57 38.6 3-12 20-27 6 39 3 5 17