STARKVILLE, Miss.?Isaac Wells' career night wasn't enough to help the Indians overcome cold shooting from the outside as Mississippi State held on for a 68-63 victory over Arkansas State on Monday. The loss drops the Indians to 1-1 on the season.
Wells, playing in his home state, pumped in 19 points and narrowly missed his first double-double of his career despite playing against a taller opponent much of the night. Jim Jones scored 13 for ASU and Dereke Tipler added 12 for the Indians.
Tipler nailed a 3 from the top of the key to cut the MSU (2-0) lead to just two points with 2:38 remaining in the game. After Jamont Jordan went baseline and lost control of the ball, ASU came down the court and began to run an offensive set.
With 2:09 left, Tipler was fouled by Bulldog point guard Jamall Edmondson and put Tipler at the line. The senior from New Madrid, Mo., knocked down both free throws to tie the game at 60.
MSU responded when Dietric Slater drove the lane and missed a leaner. The ball bounced off several players and into the hands of Piotr Stelmach, who stepped behind the 3-point line and drained it from 22 feet, his only 3 on the night. From there, Edmondson connected on five of six free throws to send the Indians home without a win.
But despite the closeness of the contest, it didn't appear as if the game would come down to free throws and missed opportunities late.
The Indians found themselves down by 10 quickly in the game after MSU's Reginald Delk knocked down a 3-pointer from the wing to put the Bulldogs up 17-7 with 12:22 left in the first half. Jones answered a minute later with a 3 of his own to stop the MSU run of 15-2, but the Indians still hadn't recovered fully.
Jamont Jordan's mid-range jumper with 8:56 left in the first half put the Indians down, 21-10, and got the crowd of 4,737 on its feet. But ASU went on a run of its own, and over the next 5:06 sliced the deficit to two points when Wells' 3-pointer from the top of the key to close the gap to 25-23.
Wells scored nine of his game-high 19 in a three minute span near the end of the first half to help bring the Indians back into the game. MSU took a 36-31 lead in at the break.
ASU has Thanksgiving off before facing a deep Missouri State squad on Saturday at 5:05 p.m. at the Convocation Center. The Bears are 1-0 on the season after routing Northern Illinois last Saturday.
