Mississippi State falls to South Carolina 68-62 in SEC opener

Mississippi State’s five-game winning streak came to an end Saturday afternoon in Columbia as Chris Jans’ team fell to South Carolina 68-62 in the SEC opener. A Josh Hubbard four-point play with 22 seconds left cut the Gamecocks’ lead to two. The Bulldogs even had the ball down two with 17 seconds left, but guard Meechie Johnson got a clutch steal from Dashawn Davis and iced it with two free throws. Johnson finished with 24 points and six rebounds and dominated MSU all afternoon.

South Carolina outscored Mississippi State 16-6 in second-chance points.

The Bulldogs’ defense suffocated South Carolina early. The Gamecocks only had one point until the 15:01 mark of the first half. The Bulldogs had a 11-3 advantage, but were outscored 27-17 until the break.

The Gamecocks took control at the 11:02 mark of the second half. Meechie Johnson drew a 3-point shooting foul on Tolu Smith with a 44-42 lead. It was Smith’s fourth of the game, Johnson hit two of the three free throws and then a transition triple one minute later to put South Carolina on top 49-42 (which was the Gamecocks’ largest lead of the contest to that point).

Tolu Smith finished with 13 points and four rebounds in 20 minutes of action in his second game of the season.

Mississippi State returns to the hardwood Wednesday night at Humphrey Coliseum. The Bulldogs will host No. 5 Tennessee at 6 p.m. on SEC Network.