Mississippi State men’s basketball runs past Mississippi Valley State 87-48

STARKVILLE, Miss. — The Mississippi State men’s basketball team dominated Mississippi Valley State 87-48 Monday night at Humphrey Coliseum.

The Bulldogs improve to 5-3 on the season, while the Delta Devils fall to 0-8. MSU extended its home winning streak to 13 games dating to last season, the longest active stretch in the Southeastern Conference.

Sophomore guard Iverson Molinar made 6 of 10 shots from the field and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line for a game-high 18 points. He also added five rebounds, five assists and two steals. Redshirt sophomore forward Tolu Smith had 13 points and 12 rebounds for his fourth double-double, while redshirt sophomore guard D.J. Stewart Jr. added 15 points.

Both redshirt senior forward Jalen Johnson and sophomore forward Quinten Post added 10 points.

As a team, MSU shot 33 of 59 (55.9%) from the floor, including 9 of 23 (39.1%) from 3-point range. The Bulldogs shot 12 of 22 (54.5%) from the free-throw line. MSU held a 47-24 rebounding edge and had 16 offensive boards.

The Delta Devils shot 17 of 55 (30.9%) from the field.

Junior guard Terry Collins scored 17 points to lead Mississippi Valley State. Freshman guard Devin Gordon had 16 points and sophomore guard Caleb Hunter had 10.

With the scored tied 7-7 early, MSU scored the next eight points to go up 15-7 with 15:19 to play in the opening half.

The Bulldogs grew their lead to 15 at 29-14, but the Delta Devils made back-to-back triples courtesy of Gordon to trim the lead to nine points at 29-20 with 7:51 to go.

Mississippi State closed the first half on an 11-3 run for a 42-25 halftime lead.

The second half was much of the same, as the Bulldogs outscored the Delta Devils 45-23 on their way to claiming the 87-48 win.

Mississippi State’s next scheduled game is Dec. 30 at Georgia to open SEC play.