COLUMBIA, SC – The Mississippi men’s basketball team will attempt to end a four-game losing streak at the conference on Saturday, when they will face the South Carolina Gamecocks at 2:30 pm CT inside the Colonial Life Arena. The contest will air on SEC Network.
Last time, the Bulldogs (10-9, 4-6 SEC) suffered a 61-45 loss on the road to the Arkansas Razorbacks. Redshirt’s second-year striker Tolu Smith was the only Bulldog to score double digits. He finished with 10 points and five rebounds. Second-year guard Redshirt DJ Stewart Jr. and second-year guard Iverson Molinar scored eight and six points, respectively.
Stewart leads the team in scoring with an average of 17.1 points per game, while Molinar is right behind him with 16.9 per game. Smith had 12.7 and 8.4 rebounds, the conference maximum.
The Gamecocks (5-6, 3-4 SEC) have won two of their last three games, including a 72-66 victory over No. 22 Florida on Wednesday. South Carolina held Florida without a field goal for the final 6h37s of the competition and used a 13-1 streak to win the upset victory.
Junior point guard AJ Lawson leads South Carolina with 17.6 points per game, while junior striker Keyshawn Bryant and second bodyguard Jermaine Couisnard complemented Lawson with an average of 14.6 and 11.8 points per game.
Gamecocks are 5-0 when keeping opposing teams with 71 points or less and 0-6 when opponents exceed 71 points.
Saturday’s meeting will be the 40th on hardwood for MSU and South Carolina. Bulldogs have a 23-16 lead, but the teams shared the last 10 meetings during the Ben Howland era.