Mississippi State men’s basketball battles back to defeat Texas A&M 63-57

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The Mississippi State men’s basketball team overcame a four-point halftime deficit to defeat Texas A&M 63-57 Wednesday night inside Reed Arena.

Sophomore guard Iverson Molinar and redshirt sophomore guard D.J. Stewart Jr. led the Bulldogs (14-12, 8-9 SEC) with 18 and 14 points, respectively.

Redshirt senior forward Abdul Ado added eight points, six rebounds and five blocked shots. Redshirt sophomore forward Tolu Smith also scored eight and added six rebounds and five assists.

MSU shot 26-for-49 (53.1%), including 8-for-19 (42.1%) on 3-pointers. The Bulldogs dished out 18 assists, including 10 assists on its 13 second-half field goals.

Texas A&M (8-8, 2-7 SEC), which was playing its first game in 32 days, was led by sophomore forward Emanuel Miller with a game-high 24 points and 13 rebounds. Senior guard Quenton Jackson added 13 points and senior guard Savion Flagg added 12.

The Aggies shot 22-for-69 (31.9%) from the field and 4-for-25 (16.0%) from 3-point range.

Texas A&M took a 10-point lead with 11:31 left in the first half when Miller’s jumper made it 18-8. The Bulldogs then scored the next 10 points to tie things up at 18-18.

The teams went into the halftime break with Texas A&M leading 33-29.

Flagg reached 1,000 career points with a layup off his own steal to give the Aggies a 40-36 lead with 14:33 left in the second half, but the Bulldogs outscored Texas A&M 15-9 to start the half to take a 44-42 lead with 12:04 left in the game.

A dunk by Smith gave the Bulldogs a 10-point lead at 56-46. A jumper by Flagg cut MSU’s lead to 59-55 with 3:16 left, but MSU held on for a 63-57 win.

The Bulldogs conclude the regular season on Saturday against Auburn inside Auburn Arena. Tip time is set for noon CT and will be televised by SEC Network.