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Tolu Smith powers Mississippi St. to win over Mizzou

Tolu Smith scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as host Mississippi State defeated Missouri 63-52 Saturday in Starkville, Miss., for its third straight victory.

D.J Jeffries added 10 points and got nine rebounds for the Bulldogs (15-8, 3-7 Southeastern Conference), who led the entire game while winning for the 12th time in their last 13 games against Missouri.

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DeAndre Gholston scored 12 points, D’Moi Hodge tallied 11 and Kobe Brown added 10 for the Tigers (17-6, 5-5). They came into the game averaging 83.3 points but finished with their season-low total.

Mississippi State shot just 3-for-20 from 3-point range but scored 32 points in the paint.

Missouri shot just 1-for-11 from 3-point range in the first half and 6-for-23 for the game.

The Bulldogs opened the game with an 8-1 run, capped by Shakeel Moore’s 3-point jumper. They pushed their lead to 17-10 as Moore hit another 3-pointer.

They kept pounding the ball into Smith, whose strong low-post play drew three first-half fouls on forward Noah Carter. Missouri had to deploy seldom-used walk-on Mabor Majak, a 7-foot center, to defend Smith for stretches.

After the Bulldogs pushed their lead to 20-12, the Tigers tied the game with a 14-6 surge triggered by Isiaih Mosley’s 3-point jumper.

But Mississippi State closed the half with a 7-1 run, with Jeffries getting to the rim twice, to pull out a 33-27 lead.

The Bulldogs opened the second half with a 12-4 push to expand their lead to 45-31. Jeffries got the Bulldogs started with a 3-point jumper and Smith attacked the basket for seven more points.

The Tigers stabilized with Nick Honor’s two 3-point jumpers and Brown’s two drives to the basket. That cut their deficit to 45-41 with 10:38 left.

But the Bulldogs answered with an 11-2 run to re-establish control for good.

–Field Level Media

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