Big second half propels Mississippi State to blowout win over Jackson State

Bulldogs have now won three in a row

STARKVILLE, Miss. – For 20 minutes on Tuesday night, Jackson State was punching and going blow for blow with Mississippi State. The Tigers were out-shooting the Bulldogs and trailed by only four points headed to halftime.

The good news for Mississippi State and the bad news for Jackson State was the fact there were 20 more minutes to play. And those 20 minutes were all Bulldogs.

MSU scored the first 16 points of the second half on the way to blowing out Jackson State by a final score of 82-59. After a slow start, the Bulldogs more than made up for it.

"(Our defense) had everything to do with it," Howland said of the second-half surge. "(Also) we did a great job offensively sharing the ball and getting it inside right away."

State's defense indeed keyed things as the Bulldogs ran away. MSU didn't allow a point for almost five full minutes to being the second half. Rebounding was also key as the Bulldogs out-boarded the Tigers 29-10 in the second half and 50-25 for the game.

Offensively, fueling Mississippi State's lopsided win was once again point guard Iverson Molinar. In only his second game back since returning from a positive COVID-19 test, Molinar shined just as he did in MSU's previous affair. Molinar tied a career high with 21 points.

State is of course now 2-0 with Molinar back on the court after going 1-2 without the sophomore to start the year.

"I've been doing this a long time and usually players improve the most between their freshman and sophomore year," Howland said. "(Molinar) has improved more than any player that I've coached since (current NBA star) Russell Westbrook between '07 and '08'...We're a completely different team (when Molinar is out there)."

Forward Tolu Smith also had a big night. The MSU post presence notched his second double-double this season with 19 points and 12 rebounds.

Two other Bulldogs scored in double figures. D.J. Stewart and Javian Davis had 11 points each for Mississippi State.

All the production made the early sluggish start a distant memory by game's end. Mississippi State shot only 34 percent as a team in the first half. Meanwhile, Jackson State shot 44 percent from the field in the first period and was 7-of-14 (50 percent) from 3-point range over the game's first 20 minutes. MSU led just 34-30 at the intermission.

Jackson State's hopes at an upset were short-lived though after the second half began. By the time Davis sank a trey just under five minutes into the period, the Bulldogs were out to a 20-point lead at 50-30. MSU never looked back.

When the final buzzer sounded, Mississippi State secured its third win in a row. Since the Bulldogs lost their first two games this season to Clemson and Liberty, they've bounced back to defeat Texas State, North Texas and now Jackson State.

MSU will try to make it four wins in a row this coming weekend at the Holiday Hoopsgiving event in Atlanta. The Bulldogs are slated to battle Dayton in an 11 a.m. central game on Saturday

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