Tyson Carter led Mississippi State University to a 72-45 win over Missouri on his birthday Tuesday night. He totaled 15 points during the game with seven assists. This marked the first SEC win of the season for the Bulldogs.

“This is a huge win for us,” Howland said in a press release from the MSU Athletic Department.

Carter’s highlight of the night was moving past his father in the Mississippi State University record books for career points, as he is now 30th highest in career points.

“I was really proud of Tyson,” said Howland. “It was a great 22nd birthday for him tonight.”

Reggie Perry hit his highest SEC game score during the game against Missouri by hitting 23 of the team’s 72 for the night. This put him at the top of the list in scores for the night.

The other double-digit scorer for the night, besides Perry and Carter, was Nick Weatherspoon.

Weatherspoon is now back from suspension as he scored 11 points during the game and also showed a strong defensive presence.

“I felt like Nick really ran the offense for us,” Howland said. “If he’s not the best defensive guard in our league, he’s definitely in the top two”

Mizzou’s usual lead scorer, Dru Smith, seemed to have an off night with his lowest-scoring game of the season, only scoring two points. Kobe Brown led the team while scoring 14 of the team’s 45 points. 

Heading into their next game against the University of Georgia this Saturday, MSU basketball is showing improvement. 

“I love good basketball,” Howland said. “When I’m watching us play that kind of defense, it just brings me an incredible amount of joy and pride in our guys.”