Mississippi State men’s basketball dominates South Carolina 78-64

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Junior guard Iverson Molinar scored 20 points, graduate forward Garrison Brooks scored a season-high 18 points to go with nine rebounds and Mississippi State dominated South Carolina 78-64 Tuesday night inside Humphrey Coliseum.

The Bulldogs (14-7, 5-3 SEC) also got 11 points from junior guard Rocket Watts and 10 from junior forward D.J. Jeffries to snap the Gamecocks' three-game winning streak. They now sit at 13-8 (4-5 SEC).

MSU shot 27-for-50 (54%), including 4-for-9 (44.4%) from 3-point range. The Bulldogs made 20 free throws compared to 11 by the Gamecocks.

The Bulldog defense held South Carolina to 24-for-58 (41.4%) shooting and 5-for-18 (27.8%) on 3s. Graduate guard James Reese V, who was coming off a 20-point performance on Saturday, led the Gamecocks with 15 points. Freshman guard Devin Carter added 10 points.

MSU opened the game with an 8-2 lead before a jumper by Reese made it 10-9. The Bulldogs then went on an 18-2 run to go ahead 28-11 with 8:24 left in the first half. Brooks’ 3-pointer with 42 seconds left gave the Bulldogs a 23-point lead at 43-20 before it was 45-23 at the halftime break. Brooks scored 17 of his 18 points in the first half.

MSU lead by as many as 27 points on multiple occasions in the second half. The Bulldogs led by 27 at 75-48 with 5:28 left when the Gamecocks went on a 13-0 run to make it 75-61 with 2:05 to play. MSU went on to win 78-64.

The Bulldogs will be back in action Saturday at 7:30 p.m. CT when they face the Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville, Arkansas.