Mississippi State
14-7,5-3SEC
South Carolina
13-8,4-5SEC
A Needed Boost
February 01, 2022 | Men's Basketball, Joel Coleman
Bulldogs bounce back from a tough week with a resounding win over South Carolina.
STARKVILLE – For D.J. Jeffries and his teammates, the mission was clear for Mississippi State on Tuesday night.
Last week was a tough week. The Bulldogs came up short in a pair of opportunities against nationally-ranked competition. But for Jeffries and company, Tuesday's matchup against South Carolina was a chance to respond. It was a chance to remind themselves and everyone watching that the guys in Maroon and White aren't deterred.
"We came out and tried to make a statement," Jeffries said.
Statement made.
The Bulldogs rolled to a 78-64 win over the Gamecocks. Mississippi State never trailed, the Dawgs led by as many as 27 and imposed their will pretty much all night long. This was precisely the type of answer MSU needed to put last week where it belongs – in the past.
"I feel like that was one of the best games we've played this season," Iverson Molinar said. "We came out and executed on defense and on offense. We were just more aggressive than the last game and we need to carry that on."
Molinar led State with his 20 points. Three other Bulldogs reached double figures as Garrison Brooks totaled 18, Rocket Watts tallied 11 and Jeffries had 10.
It was Brooks who made sure MSU didn't waste any time accomplishing what it set out to do. He scored 17 of his 18 points in the first half, including 13 over the game's first 10 minutes. With 10:26 to go in the first half, Brooks hit a jumper to give the Bulldogs a 23-9 lead and the rout was pretty much on from there.
It wasn't only Brooks shining in the first half though. It was a dominant first 20 minutes. MSU led 45-23 at the intermission, shooting 60 percent as a team and limiting South Carolina to 35.7 percent from the field over the game's first stanza.
"We came out with laser focus on both ends of the floor," State head coach Ben Howland said. "We did a good job making every shot tough, and we did a good job of sharing the ball and scoring."
It was a total-team effort, too. The Bulldogs got 24 points from their bench, with Watts leading the way for the reserves. The sharp-shooting Watts hit a trio of 3s to account for nine of his 11 points. He's now averaging 10 points per game over his last three outings as he becomes a bigger and bigger piece for State down the stretch of this year. He had to shake off some early-season issues with his hip, but now, Watts seems to be coming into his own.
"That just comes with me putting in a lot of work on my shot," Watts said. "I never stopped believing. That's what I stand on is never stop believing and never give up and I feel like I just keep putting in work on my shot and my all-around game is going to come together soon."
About the only thing to not go so well for State on Tuesday was the final five minutes or so. The Bulldogs didn't hit a field goal over the game's last 5:41, and MSU scored only five total points in that stretch, all courtesy of free throws. The late-game offensive struggles allowed the Gamecocks to shrink the final margin.
"I was disappointed we didn't finish the game in the proper way," Howland said. "We had too many turnovers late in the game."
It didn't diminish what was still an overall fantastic evening for the Bulldogs. They're back in the win column. They've distanced themselves from the games at Kentucky and at Texas Tech.
With this big win under its belt, MSU can feel good about itself once again as it seeks to move forward and add bullet points to its NCAA Tournament resume.
"We definitely needed this to boost our confidence and show we can be a Tournament team," Molinar said.
Adds Jeffries: "Last week didn't go the way we wanted it to, but you know we're trying to build. We're taking it one game at the time, and this was a good one to build on."
