Courtesy of LehighSports.com
STARKVILLE, Miss. – The Lehigh men’s basketball team opened a 38-29 halftime lead, then began the second half with eight of the first 12 points, on its way to an impressive 87-73 win at Mississippi State on Friday evening at the Humphrey Coliseum. Six Mountain Hawks reached double-figure points in a balanced team effort which led Lehigh to the program’s first-ever win over the SEC. The Mountain Hawks opened a 21-point lead late in the second half as Lehigh held a double-figure advantage for the game’s final 15:17.
The win marks the Mountain Hawks’ second straight to improve to 2-2 while Mississippi State falls to 3-2.
“Mississippi State is a talented team, but they’re a young team,” said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. “Tonight, we were able to show the discipline that we needed in order to get this win. When it’s all said and done, Mississippi State is a talented team, but a team can always beat talented individuals. Having six guys in double figures, I think there’s nothing more tell-tale than that.”
Celebrating his birthday, sophomore Kyle Leufroy scored 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Junior Kahron Ross began his homecoming weekend with 18 points, 13 coming after halftime as he finished 7-of-11 from the floor, including 3-of-5 from three-point range.
Senior Austin Price scored 14 points on 4-of-6 three-point shooting. Despite foul trouble, Tim Kemptonadded 13 points and seven rebounds, nine of those points coming in the second half. Sophomore Matt Holba had 11 points and eight boards while freshman Pat Andree recorded 11 points and three rebounds.
“I was really pleased that we were able to keep our composure and keep our head. There have been times when Tim has been in foul trouble and we’ve had to go to a young frontcourt of Matt Holba and Pat Andree, that it hasn’t always worked great for us,” said Reed. “But those guys are growing with this experience. We had a number of different players step up in the moment tonight and that’s really what a team is about.”
After Mississippi State opened the scoring, Lehigh scored five straight to take a 5-2 lead. The Bulldogs responded with the next six points to take an 8-5 advantage with 15:48 on the first-half clock.
Mississippi State went on to open a 17-12 lead with 12:52 remaining until halftime, but from there, the Mountain Hawks scored 13 of the next 14 points over the ensuing 8:19. The run included points from five different players, including consecutive baskets from Andree. His second in a row gave Lehigh an 18-17 advantage. Not long after, a Ross three-pointer gave the Mountain Hawks a 25-18 lead with 5:14 remaining in the first half.
Lehigh eventually extended its run to 19-3 as a corner three-pointer from Price, his third trey of the half, gave the Mountain Hawks a 31-20 advantage. Mississippi State pulled within seven on multiple occasions, but a tough layup from Holba as the first half expired gave Lehigh a 38-29 halftime lead.
The Mountain Hawks began the second half with eight of the first 12 points capped off by a Ross three-pointer which gave Lehigh a 46-33 lead with 18:37 on the second-half clock. Ross added another layup just over a minute later for his eighth second-half point before the half was 2:30 old.
Mississippi State pulled within seven at 50-43, but Lehigh answered with a quick 8-0 run, which included threes from Andree and Price.
A Leufroy jumper gave Lehigh a 64-48 advantage, but a couple minutes later, Mississippi State made a mini 4-0 run as consecutive baskets from I.J. Ready pulled the Bulldogs within 66-54. The Mountain Hawks answered with a Holba three-pointer from the top of the key, then Leufroy made a steal near midcourt and went in for the layup, giving Lehigh a 71-54 lead with 7:07 remaining in the second half.
Lehigh’s lead continued to swell, eventually reaching 21 following seven straight Kempton points, which gave the Mountain Hawks an 80-59 advantage with exactly five minutes remaining.
Mississippi State pulled within 11 with just over a minute remaining, but it wasn’t nearly enough, and a Ross three-pointer rounded out the 87-73 win.
Lehigh shot 52 percent from the field (34-of-66), including 42 percent from three-point range (11-of-26). The Bulldogs shot 41 percent (26-of-63) and 32 percent from long distance (7-of-22). The Mountain Hawks held a commanding 39-32 edge in rebounds.
“Everyone fell into a role and fell into their opportunities for scoring,” said Reed. “We didn’t have a lot of times where we forced it. There were times when the defensive pressure was tough and it made it difficult for us to get quality shots, but we really worked and shared the basketball. Everybody played unselfishly.”
The Mountain Hawks will return to action in less than 48 hours when they play at Arkansas State on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. (ET) in a homecoming for Ross. The game will be played in his hometown of Jonesboro.
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