Freshman guard Quinndary Weatherspoon scored 15 points and Mississippi State halted a six-game losing streak against Alabama by producing a 67-61 victory over the Crimson Tide on Saturday in Southeastern Conference play at Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Senior guard Craig Sword added 13 points for the Bulldogs (12-14, 5-9), who have won three of their past four games. Senior forward Gavin Ware had 12 points and senior guard I.J. Ready had 10 for Mississippi State.

Junior forward Shannon Hale scored a season-best 22 points for Alabama (16-10, 7-7), which had a five-game winning streak halted. Senior guard Retin Obasohan also had 22 points as the Crimson Tide suffered a painful defeat per their NCAA tournament hopes.

Mississippi State led for the final nine minutes of the first half and stretched a three-point halftime lead to 41-33 on Weatherspoon's 3-pointer with 17:15 to play. The Crimson Tide scored the next seven points to move within one but the Bulldogs answered with six straight as Sword's basket made it 47-40 with 11:34 to play.

Ready's basket gave Mississippi State a 58-51 advantage with 6:05 left before Alabama rattled off the next six points to move within one. Ware scored back-to-back baskets to give the Bulldogs a five-point lead and Ready swished a jumper from just inside the top of the key with 24.3 seconds left to seal it.

Alabama jumped out to a quick seven-point lead before the Bulldogs went on a 23-7 surge over the next 11-plus minutes to take a 27-18 lead. Sword's three-point play capped the burst but the Crimson Tide closed strong to cut their deficit to 32-29 at the break.

Mississippi State played without freshman guard Malik Newman (back).