Molinar leads balanced Mississippi St. past Texas A&M 63-57

Mar 4, 2021, 03:53 am

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- — Iverson Molinar scored 18 points and D.J. Stewart added 14 as Mississippi State fended off Texas A&M 63-57 on Wednesday night.

The Aggies were playing their first game in 32 days, having postponed all seven games they were scheduled to play in February due to COVID-19 issues within the program.

Abdul Ado added eight points, six rebounds and five blocked shots for Mississippi State (14-12, 8-9 Southeastern Conference), which shot 53% for the game (26 of 49) with 18 assists and eight 3-pointers. Tolu Smith also scored eight and added five assists.

Emanuel Miller scored 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for Texas A&M (8-8, 2-7). Quenton Jackson added 13 points and Savion Flagg 12.

Flagg reached 1,000 career points with a layup off his own steal at 14:33 of the second half, pulling the Aggies to within 40-36. Flagg scored five points and Jay Jay Chandler dunked as the Aggies cut a late 10-point gap down to 59-55 with 3:16 remaining.

The Bulldogs held on, however, as neither team set the nets on fire during the last three minutes.

Over its previous four victories (in eight games), Mississippi State had limited its opposition to 54.8 points per game and a collective 32.9 shooting percentage. State matched that pretty closely on Wednesday holding the Aggies to 57 points and 32% shooting.

The Bulldogs travel to Auburn in the regular-season finale. The Aggies travel to No. 12 Arkansas on Saturday to end the regular season.

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