Mississippi St. blasts Georgia St. 79-50 to end skid

Dec 15, 2021, 03:28 am

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- — Iverson Molinar scored 18 points and D.J. Jeffries scored 15 and Mississippi State blitzed Georgia State 79-50 on Tuesday night and end its two-game losing streak.

It was Mississippi State's second-largest margin of victory this season. The Bulldogs beat Montana by 37 (86-49) on Nov. 13.

Shakeel Moore's layup broke a tie at 8-all and that triggered an 11-4 Bulldogs run. Jeffries' 3-pointer with 8:35 before halftime gave Mississippi State (7-3) a 22-14 advantage and they went on to outscore Georgia State 21-8 to close the half.

Molinar only missed one shot all night going 5 for 6 overall and made all seven of his foul shots. Molinar entered as one of four SEC players to score in double figures each game this season. All-SEC Preseason First-Team picks JD Notae (Arkansas), Jaden Shackelford (Alabama) and Jarkel Joiner (Ole Miss) were the others.

Derek Fountain scored 10 points with nine rebounds, three assists and three steals for Mississippi State.

Corey Allen scored 15 for the Panthers who have now lost three of their last four.

Georgia State (5-4), the preseason Sun Belt Conference favorite, entered having won its last two decisions against SEC opponents. The Panthers defeated Georgia and Alabama during the 2018-19 season.

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