STARKVILLE, Miss. – – DJ Stewart Jr. scored 15 points, Abdul Ado had 11 and Mississippi State jumped early and crossed to a 69-48 victory over South Carolina on Wednesday night.
Tolu Smith added nine points and 13 rebounds for the State of Mississippi (13-11, 7-8 Southeastern Conference). Iverson Molinar also scored nine points. Stewart added five assists and Ado had eight rebounds and three blocks.
Keyshawn Bryant scored 14 points for South Carolina (5-12, 3-10), who lost six in a row. AJ Lawson had 10 points. The pair came in with a combined average of 35.5 points per game from the SEC, which is the third tandem ranked in league games.
Mississippi State opened with a 21-7 run and led 38-23 at the break. Stewart had 12 points and five assists in the interval, and the Bulldogs hit all 11 free throws.
South Carolina reduced the deficit to 12 points at the start of the second half, but did not come close. Gamecocks hit 18 out of 62 (29%) overall on the field. It was the lowest score since the 75-59 loss to the Bulldogs on February 6.
Gamecocks’ last victory at the Humphrey Coliseum was during the SEC’s regular 2017 season.
South Carolina plays in Georgia on Saturday. Mississippi, which has won consecutive games, hosts Alabama in sixth place on Saturday.
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