Mississippi State routs Missouri for first true road win

Josh Hubbard scored 16 points and Tolu Smith III had 13 points and 11 rebounds as Mississippi State routed Missouri 75-51 on Saturday night in Columbia, Mo.

Shakeel Moore added 14 points for the Bulldogs (16-8, 5-6 in the Southeastern Conference), who earned their first true road victory of the season.

Cameron Matthews had nine points, seven rebounds, seven steals and four assists as Mississippi State avoided a loss that could have damaged its case for an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament.

The Bulldogs won easily despite shooting just 10 for 21 from the free-throw line.

Nick Honor scored 15 points and Tamar Bates added 11 for the Tigers (8-16, 0-11), who have lost 14 of their last 15 games.

Missouri missed 15 of 18 shots from 3-point range, turned the ball over 20 times and got outrebounded 39-31.

Mississippi State held Missouri to just eight points in the first 10:22 minutes of the game with its tight man-to-man defense. The Bulldogs pulled ahead 8-6 with 14:11 left in the first half and never trailed again.

They pushed out to an 18-10 lead thanks to an 8-2 run that was capped by Moore's inside basket. The Tigers answered with a 6-1 run, highlighted by Honor's 3-pointer, to trim their deficit to three points.

Mississippi State stretched its lead to 30-20 with 1:51 left in the first half thanks to Moore hitting 3-pointers on consecutive possessions.

But Honor hit two more 3-pointers as Missouri trimmed its halftime deficit to 30-26.

Moore opened the second half with a 3-pointer on the first possession and Mississippi State outscored Missouri 10-2 in the first 4:02 of the second half.

Dashawn Davis hit a 3-pointer as the Bulldogs scored 10 unanswered points to extend their lead to 50-30.

Missouri got no closer than 17 points after that.

—Field Level Media