Mississippi State Men's Basketball Tops Missouri 75-51
In this story:
STARKVILLE, Miss. — The Mississippi State Bulldogs finally get their first road win of the season at Missouri. Unlike previous road games, MSU came out and set the pace early in the game as the Bulldogs led 30-26 at halftime.
Mississippi State wants ugly games because they excel in those, and after controlling the first half, the Bulldogs dominated the second half. MSU outscored the Tigers 45-25 in the second half.
MSU got a couple of good performances from their guards, Shakeel Moore and Josh Hubbard. The two combined for 30 points and eight of the Bulldog's nine three-pointers.
Moore was a perfect 5-5 from the field and 4-4 from three, and his first miss came with under four minutes remaining in the game. The Bulldog forwards also had a pair of solid performances.
Senior Tolu Smith had his typical performance tonight: he scored 13 points and 11 rebounds. Tonight's double-double for Smith is the 30th of his career.
Cameron Matthews does some of everything for the Bulldogs, and tonight was no different. The 6-7 forward had nine points, seven rebounds, and seven steals for MSU.
D.J. Jeffries has missed the previous two games for the Bulldogs, and Matthews, his high school teammate, has stepped up during his absence. Matthews is not graceful with his play style, but the physicality and intensity he plays with makeup for it.
Tonight was a must-win for the Bulldogs as a loss would have been a Quad Three loss, which would have been detrimental to their NCAA tournament hopes. Also, MSU desperately needed a road win to establish some confidence before the final stretch of the conference schedule.
MSU continues to take care of business as they improve to 5-6 in conference play.
The Bulldogs will not have a mid-week game next week, but on Saturday, they welcome Arkansas to Humphrey Coliseum at 1 p.m. C.T. If Mississippi State can defeat the Razorbacks and improve to .500 in SEC play, that will set up a massive rematch with their rival Ole Miss on Feb. 21st.
