Postgame Notes: Mississippi State vs. South Carolina

TEAM NOTES

Mississippi State rode a strong defensive performance during the second half to claim a 73-51 victory over the Gamecocks during Thursday's SEC Tournament Second Round.
The Bulldogs forced South Carolina to misfire on its last 13 field goal attempts over the last 10:29 of the contest. Overall, the Gamecocks were 4-for-31 from the floor in the second half.
The 51 points allowed matched the third-fewest total in a SEC Tournament game by the Bulldogs and the lowest since State's 57-51 victory during the 2002 SEC Tournament Semifinals.
Mississippi State advances to face No. 9 Tennessee in Friday's quarterfinals. Tip time is set for 5 p.m. CT televised by SEC Network.
The 22-point margin of victory marked State's largest win over the Gamecocks in the 44 meetings of the all-time series.
The 22-point win also was the program's third largest margin of victory in a SEC Tournament game. All three efforts have come under Ben Howland, an 80-54 victory over Texas A&M in 2019 and a 79-52 rout of LSU in 2017.
Mississippi State has won three straight games and improves to 3-2 all-time versus South Carolina in SEC Tournament games.
The Bulldogs hold a 27-17 series advantage against South Carolina and have won eight of the last 11 meetings dating back to the 2017-18 season.
Mississippi State continued to dominate the paint with a 42-16 advantage. The Bulldogs drained 21 of its 25 field goals on the interior.
The Maroon and White outrebounded South Carolina by a 49-39 margin. State has won the battle of the boards in 26 of 32 games and by 10 or more on 11 occasions this season.
Mississippi State grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and scored 17 of the contest's 20 points on second-chance opportunities.
The Bulldogs collected 11 steals which was one shy of the program's SEC Tournament record.
Mississippi State forced the Gamecocks into 18 turnovers and held a 19-9 advantage in points off turnovers.
As a unit, State shot 25-of-63 from the floor (39.7 percent), 3-of-11 from three-point range (27.3 percent) and 20-of-27 from the free throw line (74.1 percent).

PLAYER NOTES

Tolu Smith

Provided 20 points on 8-of-14 from the floor and grabbed 12 rebounds.
Double figures in 14 of his 19 appearances this season and in 34 of 49 career games at MSU.
Racked up 20-plus points in four of his last five outings.
Recorded the 19th double-double and the fifth 20-10 performance in program history during a SEC Tournament game.
Marked his ninth career game with 20-plus points and the 12th double-double of his career.
Seven of the nine games of 20-plus points have come against SEC opponents.

Iverson Molinar

Poured in 19 points to extend his season-long streak to 32 consecutive games in double figures.
The 19 points allowed him to eclipse Jerry Graves (1959-60-61) to move into 24th place in program history.
His 13th game with multiple steals.

Andersson Garcia

Contributed seven points and a career-high 14 rebounds in his first career start.
State was a +22 when Garcia was on the floor.
Matched a pair of career-highs with four assists and two blocks.
His 14 rebounds tied for second-most in a SEC Tournament game only behind Tyrone Washington's 15 rebounds against No. 22 Arkansas in 1999.

Shakeel Moore

Filled the box score with 12 points, five assists and five rebounds.
State was +31 when Moore was on the floor.
11 of his 16 career games of 10-plus points have come at MSU.
MSU and NC State are 13-3 when Moore scores in double figures.
Drained multiple three-pointers in 12 games this season.

Garrison Brooks

Chipped in nine points, five rebounds and two steals.

Bench

Derek Fountain was State's top performer off the bench with six points, two rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
The two blocks tied a career-best for Fountain.

Postgame Notes: Mississippi State vs. South Carolina

Players Mentioned

Garrison Brooks

Derek Fountain

Andersson Garcia

Iverson Molinar

Shakeel Moore

Tolu Smith III

Mississippi State University Athletics

Postgame Notes: Mississippi State vs. South Carolina

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Players Mentioned

Garrison Brooks

Derek Fountain

Andersson Garcia

Iverson Molinar

Shakeel Moore

Tolu Smith III

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