Mississippi State
16-12,7-8SEC
South Carolina
17-10,8-7SEC
Bulldogs Fall On The Road At South Carolina
February 23, 2022 | Men's Basketball
COLUMBIA, South Carolina – Playing its fourth game over a span of eight days and seeking its third-straight win, Mississippi State was unable collect consecutive road wins as the Bulldogs fell 66-56 at South Carolina Wednesday at Colonial Life Arena.
Most of Mississippi State's offensive output came from Tolu Smith. The redshirt junior big man scored 11 of his team-high 21 points during the second half and shot 8-for-13 overall from the field. It's the second time Smith has topped the 20-point mark this season and the first since he scored a season's best 22 against Richmond back on Nov. 27 in The Bahamas.
Iverson Molinar was the only other Bulldog to reach double figures in scoring. He tallied 11 with nearly half of those coming on a 5-for-6 night at the free-throw line. The 11 points enabled Molinar to surpass the 500-point mark in back-to-back seasons.
State's next two leading scorers came from a pair of reserves. Shakeel Moore and Andersson Garcia combined to total 11 points as Moore put up six with Garcia accounting for five. MSU's bench outscored South Carolina's substitutes, 18-14.
Mississippi State couldn't find a consistent offensive attack as the Bulldogs were limited to 35.8 percent as a team and missing all of its 14 tries from three-point range. The Gamecocks meanwhile made six shots from beyond the arc, as well as outrebounded the Bulldogs with South Carolina holding a 38-29 edge on the glass.
It was a tough night from the jump for Mississippi State. The Gamecocks built a double-digit advantage over the first 20 minutes as MSU trailed 35-23 at halftime. Then, the Bulldogs trailed by as many as 19 points in the second half before rallying to cut the final margin to 10.
Mississippi State held the edge in a couple of other key categories as well. The Bulldogs' 13 turnovers were five fewer than the Gamecocks. MSU also had an advantage with 36 points in the paint as opposed to 28 for South Carolina.
FROM THE BENCH – COACH HOWLAND
"I thought tonight was a tough defeat. They took it to us physically right from the get-go. We knew they were going to come out, be in pressure and be in denial of things, which they did. They switched defenses on us early and in the middle of possessions which our guys didn't pick up well enough on. We didn't attack well enough either. We didn't attack the zone or their man defense well tonight. They were a step quicker than us, and we were poor defensively. We didn't defend well especially in the first half."
"[Jermaine] Couisnard played really well. He just started starting again for them three games ago, this being the fourth. He played exactly how we thought he would play this year, like an all-league player. We really looked like we were out on our heels a lot of the time against their pressure and physicality. I didn't think about it until after the game, but we just played our fourth game in eight days. That's hard for anybody, much less college kids. So, it was a grueling grind that may have had a cumulative effect on the game tonight."
"I'm just focused on getting the win against Vanderbilt. They're going to be very difficult to beat. It's the best Vanderbilt team we've played against since my second year. They're playing really well. They've got a preseason player of the year in Scotty Pippen Jr., a really good big in Liam Robbins, and they can shoot the basketball. They made 28 three-pointers in our two meetings last year. We've got our hands full and just have to worry about that."
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs wrap up the regular season with two of their last three games inside Humphrey Coliseum. First up, a Saturday matinee against Vanderbilt. Tip time is scheduled for 12 p.m. CT televised by SEC Network and available online courtesy of the ESPN app and www.ESPN.com/watch.
Visit www.HailState.com for the latest news and information on the men's basketball program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets by searching 'HailStateMBK' on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
- Mississippi State dropped a 66-56 road decision to fall to 16-12 overall and 7-8 in SEC action. The Bulldogs are tied with Florida for eighth place in the SEC standings pending LSU's result at No. 6 Kentucky later tonight.
- The Bulldogs had a three-game winning streak against South Carolina come to a close. State still maintains a 26-17 series advantage.
- Mississippi State hit on 18 of its 19 field goals on the interior en route to a 36-28 advantage in paint points.
- The Bulldogs forced South Carolina into 18 turnovers and scored 17 of the game's 23 points off miscues.
- As a team, Mississippi State shot 19-of-53 from the floor (35.8 percent), 0-of-14 on three's and were 18-of-26 from the free throw line (69.2 percent).
Tolu Smith
- Poured in a SEC season's best 21 points, 11 coming during the second half.
- Scored double figures in 10 of his 15 appearances in 2021-22.
- Notched 10-plus points in 30 of his 45 career outings at State.
- Four of his six 20-plus point performances have come against SEC opponents.
- The 21 points was his second-highest scoring game of the season and the fourth-best of his career.
- Contributed 11 points, three rebounds and two assists.
- Extended his streak to 28 consecutive games in double figures to start the season.
- The 28-game streak for Molinar matches Tony Watts' streak in 1991-92
- The 11 points gives Molinar 500 points in back-to-back seasons.
- Moves to 12 points shy of being 28th player with 1,200 career points in program history.
- Grabbed a game-leading eight rebounds, six on the offensive glass.
- Nine rebounds away from becoming only Power 5 active player with 1,500 career points and 1,000 career rebounds.
- Chipped in four points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals.
- His eighth outing with at least three assists in 2021-22.
- His sixth effort with multiple steals on the season.
- Made his fourth consecutive start.
- Tied his season-high with two steals.
- Shakeel Moore led the Bulldogs off the bench with six points and four steals.
- Moore's third straight game and 16th outing with two or more steals this season.
- Has two or more steals in 27 of 53 career games.
- Andersson Garcia pitched in five points and five rebounds.
