Brooks sets tone to lead Mississippi St. past Carolina

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) – Iverson Molinar scored 20 points and Garrison Brooks scored a season-high 18 points and Mississippi State beat South Carolina 78-64 on Tuesday night to end a two-game losing streak.
 
South Carolina saw its three-game winning streak come to an end. During the streak the Gamecocks used second half runs of 24-0, 22-4, 22-5 to complete victories.
 
Mississippi State made sure that wasn’t going to happen. The Bulldogs held South Carolina to 3-for-11 shooting from beyond 3-point range after halftime and 5 for 18 overall.
 
James Reese V’s basket with 15:42 brought the Gamecocks within 10-9 and from there Mississippi State (14-7, 5-3 Southeastern Conference) took control.
 
Brooks followed with a layup, D.J. Jeffries made a pair of foul shots, Molinar followed with a layup and the Bulldogs were on their way to a 13-0 run in a four-and-a-half minute span.
 
Brooks’ 3-pointer with 42 seconds before halftime gave Mississippi State its largest lead of the first half at 43-20 and it went to the break up 45-23.
 
Brooks finished with 17 points before intermission on 8-for-11 shooting and Mississippi State as a unit shot 60% (18 for 30) with all their points coming from inside the arc.
 
Mississippi State extended its lead to 75-48 with 5:25 remaining before South Carolina went on a 13-0 run to reduce its deficit.
 
Reese V scored 15 on 7-for-9 shooting and Devin Carter 10 for South Carolina.
 
Mississippi State, which never trailed, has won seven of the last nine against the Gamecocks including four-straight at home.
 
The Gamecocks (13-8, 4-5) host No. 22-ranked Tennessee on Saturday while Mississippi State heads to Fayetteville, Arkansas to face the Razorbacks on Saturday.

KEY STATS
> James Reese V led the Gamecocks with 15 points. He went 7-for-9 from the field and made one of his two 3-point attempts.
> The Bulldogs shot 54 percent from the floor. The Gamecocks are now 0-3 this season when allowing opponents to shoot 50 percent or better from the field.
> Mississippi State outrebounded the Gamecocks 41-24, including a 29-15 margin on the defensive glass.

NOTABLES
> The Gamecocks forced 19 turnovers. They have forced at least 11 turnovers in each game this season.
> Mississippi State had four players score in double figures, including Iverson Molinar, who scored 20 points. Molinar went 10-for-10 from the free-throw line.
> The Bulldogs led the entire way, never trailing in the game. They led after the first made basket 22 seconds into the game.

UP NEXT
> South Carolina returns to Columbia for another two-game homestand starting with No. 18/20 Tennessee (14-6. 5-3 SEC) on Saturday (Feb. 5). Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. (ET) on CBS with Kevin Harlan (pxp) and Jim Spanarkel (analyst) on the call for the nationally televised SEC showdown.

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