Hail State Updates
24
Mississippi State's season ends with NIT loss
NEW YORK, NY - Tony Carr scored 21 points, Shep Garner added 18 while breaking a school record for career 3-pointers and Penn State routed Mississippi State 75-60 in the National Invitation Tournament semifinals Tuesday night.
After the score was tied 9-all, Penn State ended the first quarter on a 9-2 run. From there, the Nittany Lions opened the second with a 19-0 spurt capped by Garner's 3 off an assist from Carr to make it 37-11.
Penn State was up 42-23 at halftime and led by as many as 27. Mississippi State (25-12) wasn't able to get within 20 until there was 7:56 left in the game. Abdul Ado's dunk made it 65-47, but that was the closest the fourth-seeded Bulldogs got before the waning moments.
Mississippi State was led by Tyson Carter's 19 points off the bench. Ado had 13 points and seven rebounds.
Lamar Stevens scored 17 points for Penn State. Carr had six assists and five rebounds.
TaxSlayer Bowl: Mississippi State holds off Louisville, Lamar Jackson 31-27
JACKSONVILLE, FL - It likely was Lamar Jackson's farewell performance. It definitely was Keytaon Thompson's coming-out party.
Thompson, a highly touted freshman making his first start in place of injured quarterback Nick Fitzgerald, ran for 147 yards and three touchdowns to help No. 24 Mississippi State beat Jackson and Louisville 31-27 in the TaxSlayer Bowl on Saturday.
"He was phenomenal," Bulldogs interim coach Greg Knox said.
Thompson completed 11 of 20 passes for 127 yards, with an interception. He was more effective as a runner, carrying on 27 of the team's 55 running plays.
"We knew that's what he did best," Knox said. "If you go back and look at Mississippi State over the year, when Nick Fitzgerald ran the ball for a hundred yards, we were winning games. So we knew he had to run the ball today.
"We didn't care if he was a freshman. We didn't care if he was starting his first game. We knew we could scheme some things up for him to run the ball, and he could have success."
Thompson scored twice in the fourth quarter, including a 1-yard plunge with 3:39 remaining that put the Bulldogs (9-4) ahead for good.
Jackson had the Cardinals (8-5) on the move late, but safety Mark McLaurin intercepted his third pass of the game. Jackson got another chance in the waning seconds following a failed, fourth-down conversation. But his desperation heave was batted away in the end zone.