MSU Men’s Basketball Wins Final Regular Season Game

STARKVILLE, Miss. (MSU Athletics) – Senior night provided a rewarding conclusion to four Mississippi State seniors’ careers, as the Bulldogs knocked off the Missouri Tigers 52-43 Saturday.With the win, the Bulldogs improved to 13-18 on the season and 6-12 in conference play. MSU clinched the No. 12 seed in the SEC Tournament and will face No. 13 seeded Auburn (12-19, 4-14) Wednesday night at  6 p.m. in the tournament opener in Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. The contest will be televised on SEC Network. The Bulldogs won 78-71 at Auburn earlier this season.

MSU’s win Saturday also gave them the season sweep over Missouri after a 77-74 victory in Columbia on Valentine’s Day.

In a night in which points came at a premium, Missouri became the first SEC team the Bulldogs held to under 50 points since holding Georgia to 49 points in 2008. The Bulldogs also limited Missouri to its second-lowest point production this season.

The Bulldogs honored seniors Roquez Johnson, Trivante Bloodman, Isaiah Butlerand Jeffery Johnson, each of which drew starts for the Maroon and White Saturday.

“We wanted to make sure we sent our seniors off on a positive note. I was happy those guys were able to go in there at the start of the basketball game and weather the storm,” MSU coach Rick Ray said. “I thought they started our defensive effort there, and it sustained throughout the course of the game. We wanted to make sure those guys left this court with a good feeling.”

The Bulldogs started the game slow offensively. The Tigers and Dogs traded baskets early before MSU took command of the game. A pair of free throws by junior guard Travis Daniels gave the Bulldogs the lead for good and sparked a 17-9 run to close the first half which saw the Bulldogs lead 27-19.

The Bulldogs increased their lead to 33-22 to open the second half before the Tigers clawed back into the game. Missouri used a pair of jumpers and 3-pointers to trim the Bulldog lead to 36-32 at the 8:30 mark.

Following a media timeout, junior guard Craig Sword ignited the Bulldogs on ensuing possessions with a layup and a timely 3-pointer to give MSU a double-digit lead, 43-32.

“We played good defensively and Missouri was really good defensively in the second half, too, so it became kind of stagnant and we let them creep back into the ball game,” Ray said. “We needed someone to step up and make some good shots.”

The Tigers would get back within seven points with just over two minutes to play, but late free throw shooting from Sword, Johnson and freshman forwardDemetrius Houston put the game out of reach and sealed the victory.

For the contest, the Bulldogs knocked down 17 of 43 shots from the field (39.5 percent), 4 of 11 shots from 3-point range (36.4 percent) and went 14 of 19 from the free throw line (73.7 percent).

MSU held Missouri to 15 of 50 shots from the field (30 percent), including 5 of 17 from the 3-point line (29.4 percent). Despite dropping a 37-32 advantage on the glass, MSU collected 11 assists to Missouri’s 5.

Sword led all scorers with 15 points, including a pair of 3-point shots. Junior forward Gavin Ware added nine points and led the Bulldogs with eight rebounds.