STARKVILLE, Miss. – The Mississippi State men’s basketball team beat South Carolina 69-48 on Wednesday night at the Humphrey Coliseum.
With the win, Bulldogs improve to 13-11 (7-8 SEC), while Gamecocks drop to 5-12 (3-10 SEC).
Redshirt’s second guard, DJ Stewart Jr., led the MSU with 15 points and five assists, while senior striker Abdul Ado joined him with 11-point double digits. He also recorded eight rebounds and three blocks.
Second-tier Redshirt striker Tolu Smith added nine points and 13 rebounds. Second-year point guard Iverson Molinar also scored nine points.
Bulldogs shot 24 out of 51 (47.1%), including 4 out of 12 (33.3%) in the 3-point range. MSU also hit 17 out of 22 (77.3%) of the free throw line. The large MSU men dominated the painting and had a recovery edge of 49-24 and a 38-20 point in the painting.
Gamecocks shot just 18 to 62 (29.0%) on the field, including 4 to 21 (19.0%) on 3 points. They hit nine of their 11 free throws.
South Carolina was led by junior striker Keyshawn Bryant with 14 points and point guard AJ Lawson with 10.
The Bulldogs opened the game with a 21-7 streak and maintained their momentum for a 38-23 lead at halftime.
South Carolina reduced the deficit to 12 points at 45-33 with 13:40 remaining in the game, but MSU increased its lead to 20 points at 57-37 with 7:18 remaining. MSU won 69-48.
The Bulldogs will be back in action on Saturday when they receive No. 6 Alabama at 5 pm CT for graduation night. The game will air on SEC Network.