Box Score STARKVILLE, Miss. – McNeese led 42-39 at the half against 22^nd-ranked Mississippi State, then led 50-46 two-and-a-half minutes into the second half but the Bulldogs scored 19 straight points then held off a couple of late Cowboy rallies to defeat McNeese 90-77 here Tuesday night.
 
McNeese entered the night with the fifth-toughest schedule in the nation, one spot higher than Kansas, and after tonight's game, the Cowboys' schedule jump up as the No. 3-toughest schedule in country..
 
"I was really proud of our guys," said head coach Heath Schroyer. "We've been on the road for a week playing in three different states and we come out tonight against a ranked team and lead it at the half and going into the second half."
 
The loss was the third straight suffered by McNeese (2-6) as it completes its three-game, week-long road trip. Mississippi State improved to 7-1 on the season while remaining unbeaten at home at 5-0.
 
McNeese dominated the Bulldogs in the paint in the first half as the Cowboys scored 28 of their 42 points between the blocks and knocked down 19 of 29 from the field for 66 percent.
 
The Bulldogs used eight 3-point field goals in the half to keep McNeese from pulling away.
 
Malik Hines scored 14 of his game-high 24 points in the first half while James Harvey scored all nine of his points on 3-for-3 shooting from long range in the first 20 minutes.
 
"I thought we executed great," said Schroyer. "The guys were understanding the game plan on both sides of the ball and they executed it great.
 
"It's very evident we're getting better, even as hard as it is to play these types of teams early on, it's making us better."
 
Jarren Greenwood added 14 points while Will Robinson scored 12 and Sha'Markus Kennedy 11.
 
MSU's Lamar Peters scored 27 points behind a career-high eight 3-point baskets to lead the Bulldogs. Reggie Perry added 15 points, Nick Weatherspoon scored 11 and Tyson Carter 10.
 
"Peters is an NBA guard," said Schroyer. "I just think they wore us down."
 
The first half was a back-and-forth battle for the first 10 minutes that saw six lead changes and one tie. The Bulldogs led it 20-19 after a Harvey 3 cut the lead down from four points, but MSU responded with a 6-0 run behind back-to-back 3s from Carter and Peters to make it a 26-19 lead.
 
The Cowboys battled back and tied the game after a Hines layup with 2:41 to play to make it 34-34, then a 3 by Harvey put the Cowboys up 37-34 at the 2:09 mark. After the Bulldogs tied it on a three by Peters at the 1:44 mark, Greenwood completed an And-1 score then Robinson knocked down a jumper with 32 seconds left to give McNeese a three-point halftime advantage.
 
McNeese held the lead through the first three minutes of the second half and led by as many as four points on a couple different occasions.
 
But the inside game that worked so well for the Cowboys in the first half was pretty much non-existent during MSU's 19-0 run that saw McNeese go scoreless for a period of 6:17.
 
"They sifted their coverages on the pick and roll and doubled us in the post," said Schroyer about the inability to score in the paint in the second half.  "We had settled for the jump shot. There were four possessions I didn't think we executed well and they scored on all four of those possessions. That was the different of the game.
 
"But even after that, we got back to playing like we were in the first half and able to get the ball inside. I thought Malik was really good tonight. This is the Malik we need to have night in and night out. I thought Greenwood was good as was Harvey. Sha'Markus had a good night tonight and Will came off the bench and played well."
 
MSU went up 72-54 with 9:23 to play but McNeese battled back and cut the gap to 75-64 following a Greenwood three-pointer with 6:53 to play and a chance to get it back into single-digits, but a Harvey jumper missed its mark.
 
Three minutes later, the Cowboys scored five straight off of two Robinson free throws then a 3 by Robinson to cut the gap to 81-69 with 3:36 to play. The Bulldogs came right back with 3s by Peters and Perry in a 29 second span to put MSU up 87-69 with 2:45 to play.
 
The Cowboys scored the final four points of the game to make it 90-77.
 
McNeese shot 58 percent for the game (29 of 50) and 54 percent from long range (7-13) while the Bulldogs connected on 45 percent (29-65) from the field including 45 percent (14-31) from behind the arc.
 
One glaring stat shows the Bulldogs with a 40-23 advantage in rebounding with 19 of those 40 boards coming off the offensive glass and leading to 24 second chance points.
 
The Cowboys will take some time off from competition before returning to the hardwood on Dec. 13 when they host North Carolina Central.