Field Level Media
Jan 30, 2021
Iverson Molinar scored 20 points to lead Mississippi State to a 95-56 home win over Iowa State in a game that was part of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Saturday at Starkville, Miss.
D.J. Stewart Jr. scored 17 points and Tolu Smith added 16 for Mississippi State (10-8), which snapped a three-game losing streak.
The 95 points scored by the Bulldogs was a season high.
Molinar went 8-of-13 from the field, while Smith added seven rebounds for the Bulldogs, who shot 50.7 percent overall (37 of 73) and 42.1 percent from 3-point range (8 of 19).
Mississippi State also held a 41-34 rebounding advantage.
Rasir Bolton was the lone bright spot for Iowa State, as he led the Cyclones with 18 points, going 10-of-13 from the free-throw line.
The Cyclones shot 34 percent from the field overall (17 of 50), 16.7 percent from 3-point range (4 of 24) and committed 21 turnovers.
Iowa State (2-9) has lost five straight games and hasn't won since beating Jackson State on Dec. 20.
Mississippi State jumped out to a sizable early lead, using a 15-3 run to go up 15-6 after the first 6:08 of the game, and then built a 28-13 lead with 8:25 left until halftime.
The Bulldogs eventually took a 44-28 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The second half wasn't much different, as Mississippi State continued to extend its lead further.
The Bulldogs started the second half on a 9-0 run to take a 53-28 lead with 17:40 remaining in the game.
Mississippi State continued to pour it on after Iowa State cut its deficit to 53-32, going on a 15-1 run to take a 68-33 lead with 12:47 remaining.
The Bulldogs established a 38-point lead at 77-39 with 9:34 left, and then forged their biggest lead of the game at 91-50 with 3:15 remaining.
--Field Level Media