Mississippi State men’s basketball tops Morehead State 66-46

STARKVILLE, Miss. — The Mississippi State men’s basketball team outscored Morehead State 37-18 in the second half to top the Eagles 66-46 Sunday evening at Humphrey Coliseum.

Junior guard Iverson Molinar led the Bulldogs (4-0) with 15 points and added seven rebounds and six assists. Sophomore guard Shakeel Moore added 13 points and five steals, while junior forward D.J. Jeffries finished with a double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

Mississippi State shot 30-for-61 (49.2%), including 5-for-13 (38.5%) on 3-pointers.

The Eagles (2-3) were led by graduate guard Tray Hollowell with 10 points, while sophomore guard Ta’Lon Cooper added nine points and dished out five assists.

The Bulldog defense held the Eagles to 16-for-48 shooting (33.3%), including 8-for-25 (32%) from beyond the arc. The second half saw the Eagles shoot just 26% overall and they made just two of their 12 3-pointers.

The Bulldogs led 20-11 with 9:43 left in the first half before the Eagles went on a 12-0 spurt, all triples, to go up 23-20.

A layup by Mississippi State redshirt junior forward Javian Davis, who finished with six points, and a triple from Moore to close out the first half gave the Bulldogs a 29-28 lead.

In the second half, the Bulldogs opened on an 8-0 run to go up by nine points with 16:15 to play. Moore hit a jumper, Molinar followed with a three-point play and Moore drained a triple to make it 37-28.

Mississippi State had its first double-digit lead with 8:51 to play when a shot by Davis made it 51-41. The Bulldogs closed out on a 9-0 run to secure a 66-46 win.

The Bulldogs will now travel to the Bahamas to play in the Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship. They will open the tournament against Louisville on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. CT on CBS Sports Network.