COLOMBIA, SC – – DJ Stewart Jr. scored 29 points out of 4 out of 6 3-point shots and Mississippi State withdrew from South Carolina in the second half for a 75-59 victory on Saturday.
AJ Lawson’s dunk with 13:44 left brought the Gamecocks within 50-49. The state of Mississippi (11-9, 5-6 Southeast Conference) responded with a 13-0 explosion in the next five minutes and South Carolina never recovered. The race started and ended with shots from Stewart.
Iverson Molinar scored 16 points for Bulldogs who finished 26 to 56 (46%) including 10 to 19 (53%) in the 3-point range.
South Carolina’s pitching luck (5-7, 3-5) was just the opposite, as the Gamecocks went from 19 to 61 (31%) and lost 20 out of 25 attempts at 3 points.
Keyshawn Bryant and Lawson each scored 13 for the Gamecocks and Seventh Woods scored 10.
With the victory, the Bulldogs avoided a fifth consecutive SEC loss, which has already happened twice in the six seasons of coach Ben Howland in charge of the state of Mississippi.
Howland is now 4-3 against Gamecocks coach Frank Martin. Saturday’s game was the first of the last seven between the two teams where the winner won by more than six points.
The Gamecocks will play their second in a three-game home game on Tuesday, facing Alabama, who are in tenth place. Bulldogs return home to face LSU on Wednesday.
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