Iverson Molinar tallied 20 points, while also eclipsing 1,000 points for his career, as host Mississippi State earned a split in the season series with rival Ole Miss after a 78-60 victory Saturday at Starkville, Miss.
Holding a 42-41 halftime lead, the Bulldogs (13-5, 4-2 SEC) increased their lead to 17 at 66-49 with 7:06 to play behind a stretch of five points from D.J. Jeffries and 3-of-14 shooting from the field by Ole Miss (9-9, 1-5).
The eventual 15-0 run helped pave the way for MSU’s seventh win in its past nine games. The Bulldogs also improved to 11-1 on their home court.
The conference’s third-leading scorer, Molinar made 7 of 11 shots, including the milestone bucket with 2:27 remaining in the game. He added a game-high four steals.
Garrison Brooks totaled 17 points, while Jeffries and Tolu Smith each scored 11 for Mississippi State. Shakeel Moore chipped in 10 points as MSU shot 54.7 percent from the field and made 14 of 17 free throws (82.4 percent).
Smith was helped off the court with a left leg injury with 1:15 to play.
MSU pushed its lead to 147-119 in the all-time series, which dates back to 1914.
The Rebels shot 61.5 percent (16 of 26) in the first half, but they ran into trouble when top scorer Matthew Murrell (14 points) picked up his fourth foul and went to the bench with 12:57 to play in the game.
Jaemyn Brakefield had 13 points and Nysier Brooks 12 for the Rebels, who lost their fourth straight and for the sixth time in the past seven games.
The teams each went 7 of 12 from the field in the first 10 minutes, but MSU got hot behind Moore and Jeffries for an 8-1 run to lead 25-18 at 9:52 before the break.
The Bulldogs led by 28-20 with nine minutes to go before halftime, but the Rebels battled back behind Daeshun Ruffin’s driving layup for a 35-30 edge with 4:56 left before the break.
In a sharp-shooting first half, Brooks scored 10 and Molinar added nine as the Bulldogs led 42-41 on the strength of 15 of 28 shooting (53.6 percent).
–Field Level Media