MSU beats Eastern Washington

Published 4:03 am Saturday, November 14, 2015

STARKVILLE (AP) — Gavin Ware had 26 points and 13 rebounds, I.J. Ready added 25 points with six assists and Mississippi State beat Eastern Washington 106-88 on Friday night in Ben Howland’s coaching debut with the Bulldogs.

Howland, the former UCLA coach, was coaching in his first game in two seasons.

Mississippi State used a 20-0 run in the second half to pull away in the season opener for both teams.

Travis Daniels and Quinndary Weatherspoon each had 12 points for Mississippi State, while Fred Thomas added 10.

Bogdan Bliznyuk and Felix Von Hofe each had 21 points to lead Eastern Washington. Austin McBroom added 15 points, Venky Jois 12 and Sir Washington 11.

Eastern Washington opened the second half with a 9-2 run and extended its lead to double digits at 60-50. The Bulldogs cut their deficit to 70-66 and then scored 20 straight points to take an 86-70 lead with 7:30 left.