COLUMBIA, SC – Redshirt’s second guard, DJ Stewart Jr., scored 29 points in the Mississippi State men’s basketball team victory in South Carolina 75-59 at the Colonial Life Arena on Saturday.
Second-year point guard Iverson Molinar had 16 points, four assists and four rebounds. Redshirt’s second-year striker Tolu Smith added nine points and eight rebounds.
Bulldogs (11-9, 5-6 SEC) shot 26 to 56 (46.4%) from the field, including 10 to 19 (52.6%) in the 3-point range. MSU hit 13 out of 26 (50.0%) in the second half and beat South Carolina by 39 to 29 in the first half.
Turnover remains a problem for Bulldogs. On Tuesday, the MSU turned the ball 26 times, the best high in the league. MSU followed up with 21 turnovers on Saturday. However, South Carolina turned the ball 14 times and MSU managed a 22-17 lead in turning points.
Gamecocks (5-7, 3-5 SEC) shot 19 to 61 (31.1%), including 5 to 25 (20.0%) from beyond the arc. Junior guard AJ Lawson and striker Keyshawn Bryant led with 13 points each.
Gamecocks moved up 11-5 with 15:47 remaining in the first half, before the Bulldogs scored the next eight points to climb 13-11.
South Carolina managed to rise again by four points in 19-15 with 9:19 remaining, but MSU used a 16-3 spurt to take 36-24 with three minutes to go. Gamecocks made the last three half baskets to reduce the deficit to six points by 36-30 in the interval.
Freshman guard Deivon Smith made a 3-point basket to open the second half and put the Bulldogs at 39-30, but the Gamecocks responded with a trio of trebles to tie things up at 39-39 with 17:48 to play.
A 13-0 run by the Bulldogs put MSU at 63-49 with 8:20 left in the game, and MSU never gave up, winning 75-59.
The Bulldogs will now return home for a game against LSU on Wednesday at 8 pm CT. It will be televised by ESPNU.