GAMEDAY JOURNAL: Mississippi State 78, South Carolina 64
February 01, 2022 | Men's Basketball, Joel Coleman
The Bulldogs top the Gamecocks at Humphrey Coliseum.
STARKVILLE – There's no doubt about it. It's a big game night for Mississippi State. Of course this time of year, all of them are big anyway.
The Bulldogs host South Carolina tonight as State looks to start trying to add wins onto its NCAA Tournament resume. Coming into the evening, MSU's NCAA NET ranking stands at 51 and ESPN's Joe Lunardi has the Bulldogs among his first four teams out in his latest NCAA Tournament projections.
The bottom line is that State is on the bubble and needs all the wins it can get over the final 11 regular season games as the Dawgs seek to go dancing in March.
Alright, tip time is nearing. Here's your starting lineups, first for Mississippi State:
And now, for South Carolina:
G James Reese V
G Erik Stevenson
G Devin Carter
F Wildens Leveque
F Keyshawn Bryant
Keep it right here at HailState.com throughout the night. Refresh your browser for the latest updates from The Hump.
Media timeout with 15:20 left in the first half - Mississippi State 12, South Carolina 9
The Bulldogs are off to a solid start. Just what they needed coming off of Saturday's rough game at Texas Tech. Garrison Brooks playing extremely well early on with half of MSU's 12 points. Dawgs are 6-for-8 from the field overall as a team. That's a 75 percent shooting percentage if you do the math. That'll work.
14:21 left in the first half - Dawgs have increased their lead to 16-9 coming out of the media timeout. Garrison Brooks up to eight points.
12:30 left in first half - a 9-0 MSU run over about a three minute stretch has the Bulldogs in control, up 19-9 over the Gamecocks. Garrison Brooks continuing to shine. He's 5-for-6 from the field and is already up to 11 points. With Tolu Smith remaining out as he recovers from his knee ailment, Brooks doing things like this is huge for the Dawgs.
11:00 left in first half - MSU up 23-9. South Carolina hasn't scored in over five minutes of game action and MSU is on a 13-0 run. Just complete domination so far.
Timeout South Carolina with 9:42 left in the first half - Mississippi State 25, South Carolina 11
Dawgs shooing 65 percent as a team to South Carolina's 38 percent and Garrison Brooks now up to 13 points for State.
Media timeout with 7:19 left in the first half - Mississippi State 28, South Carolina 13
MSU just in control everywhere. Shooting 60 percent to South Carolina's 33 percent. Dawgs outrebounding the Gamecocks 15-6.
Media timeout with 2:59 left in the first half - Mississippi State 34, South Carolina 17
Not much has changed since the last update. Dawgs keep playing extremely well. If you want to nitpick, about the only thing State hasn't done is shoot a three. Dawgs are 0-for-3 from long range.
1:35 left in first half - Mississippi State 41, South Carolina 20 - Another Garrison Brooks bucket puts him up to 15 points for the evening. Just a great first half for Garrison.
HALFTIME - Mississippi State 45, South Carolina 23
You couldn't have drawn up a better first half for the Bulldogs. Just fantastic on the defensive and offensive ends. MSU shooting 60 percent and has held South Carolina to 36 percent. Dawgs hold a 22-11 edge in rebounding. Garrison Brooks ends the first 20 minutes of play with 17 total points. Back in just a bit...
17:35 left - MSU in front 49-25 now in the early moments of the second half. Iverson Molinar bucket a few seconds ago puts him at 11 points for the night. He's now scored in double figures in all 21 games this season. That's the longest such streak to start a year since Tony Watts scored in the first 28 games for State way back in 1991-92. Sounds weird saying way back in 91-92. But that was 30 years ago folks!
Media timeout with 15:45 to go - Mississippi State 51, South Carolina 29
MSU hasn't hit a field goal in the last 2:24 but at this point, no big deal as the Dawgs maintain the 22 point lead they had at halftime.
12:50 to go - Mississippi State 62, South Carolina 36
Rocket Watts just drilled a 3-pointer to increase the MSU lead. Remember earlier when I said all State hadn't done tonight was hit a three? Well the Dawgs are 3-for-3 from deep since that point.
Media timeout with 11:37 to go - Mississippi State 62, South Carolina 40
Garrison Brooks has 17 points, Iverson Molinar is at 15. Rocket Watts now with 8.
Media timeout with 7:48 to go - Mississippi State 69, South Carolina 44
Dawgs trying to put the finishing touches on this one. Still a little time to go, but this has been everything MSU could've possibly wanted tonight.
Media timeout with 3:54 to go - Mississippi State 75, South Carolina 56
Three Dawgs are now in double figures. Rocket Watts now up to 11 points. He could be such a big piece for State down the stretch of this season. He had the hip issues earlier this year, but he's sure looking like there are no problems now.
1:51 left - Mississippi State 75, South Carolina 61 - A 13-0 Gamecock run has narrowed the once-huge MSU lead to 14. State hasn't scored since the 5:28 mark, so going on four minutes.
FINAL - Mississippi State 78, South Carolina 64
Dawgs scored only three points over the final 5:28 so South Carolina made the final score closer than what it was for much of the night. Still, an overall great night for Mississippi State. Molinar finished with 20 points. 18 for Brooks. 11 for Watts. 10 for Jeffries.
Postgame content coming soon right here on HailState.com, including a Dear Ol' State podcast, story and more.
