Mississippi State junior guard Shakeel Moore scored 20 points and the Bulldogs swept their Southeastern Conference season series from South Carolina in a 74-68 win over the Gamecocks on Tuesday night in Starkville, Miss.
A 16-point favorite on Senior Night, the Bulldogs (20-10, 8-9) shrugged off a slow start, dominated the second part of the first half, then had to rally with 12 minutes remaining.
Moore made 9 of 15 shots from the field in posting his third 20-point game this season. Tolu Smith had 16 points and six rebounds. Shawn Jones Jr. had 11 points and four rebounds off the bench.
Mississippi State won for the 10th time in the past 13 meetings with the Gamecocks. The streaking Bulldogs moved to 8-2 since losing at then-No. 2 Alabama 66-63 on Jan. 25.
In winning for the second straight time, they finished their home campaign with a 12-4 mark.
For South Carolina (10-20, 3-14), GG Jackson II scored 22 points, grabbed eight boards and sank all 11 of his free throws. Josh Gray and Hayden Brown had 12 points apiece.
The Gamecocks suffered their 12th setback in the past 14 outings overall. They dropped to 1-6 in the past seven meetings with Mississippi State.
After dropping a 66-51 home decision to the Bulldogs on Jan. 31, the struggling Gamecocks got the offensive start they needed in their final SEC road game.
Jackson scored 12 points in the first half as South Carolina shot 46.4 percent (13 of 28) and led by as much as seven –21-14 — after Jackson drained a 3-pointer.
But the Bulldogs found their offense and closed out the half with a strong 28-13 run to lead 42-34 at the break.
Smith, a 6-foot-11 senior, netted 12 points on 5 of 8 shooting. The Bulldogs’ offense came alive as they connected on 17 of 30 (56.7 percent) attempts from the floor in the first 20 minutes.
However, in the second half South Carolina rallied to take a 49-46 lead at 12:33 on Jacobi Wright’s trey — the squad’s first lead since 30-29 at 5:45 of the first half.
With the match tied 57-all at 7:47, the Bulldogs’ D.J. Jeffries sank two free throws for their final lead. Moore netted eight points inside the last five minutes to preserve the win.
–Field Level Media
