Jimmy Bell Jr. tallied 17 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, Cameron Matthews added 18 points and 11 rebounds and Mississippi State bullied Rutgers in a 70-60 victory Saturday afternoon in Newark, N.J.
Dashawn Davis contributed 13 points and six assists for Mississippi State (10-2) as the Bulldogs won their fourth straight game. Matthews scored 14 of his points after halftime, when the Bulldogs shot 46.4 percent in the second half (13-for-28) to pull away.
Mississippi State outrebounded Rutgers 47-26. Rutgers (7-4) was held to 35.5 percent shooting in the second half and 37.1 overall.
Aundre Hyatt led the Scarlet Knights with 18 points and six rebounds as they failed to capture a big nonconference win at a technically neutral site where the crowd leaned heavily Rutgers’ way.
Bell made it 12-9 Mississippi State with a jumper, but the Bulldogs went the next 8:20 without making a field goal, missing 11 straight tries in that span.
Rutgers didn’t fully capitalize, only going ahead 20-15 thanks to five points by Gavin Griffiths. D.J. Jeffries sank a 3-pointer to end Mississippi State’s drought at the 7:38 mark and launch a 10-0 run while Rutgers endured a scoreless rut of 5:42.
The Bulldogs held three five-point leads before Rutgers came back. Hyatt stripped Josh Hubbard of the ball, scooped it up and pulled up for a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to tie the game at 29 entering halftime.
Mississippi State heated up in the second half, working its offense through Bell and Matthews. Clifford Omoruyi, Rutgers’ starting center, was assessed his third and fourth fouls during the first four minutes of the half and subbed out, allowing the Bulldogs to own the interior.
They scored seven straight points for a 49-37 lead before Hyatt had four points for Rutgers, including a fastbreak 3-pointer that ended a 4:53 field-goal drought. But Shakeel Moore (10 points) responded with his own trey, and Matthews added an alley-oop slam.
The Bulldogs’ largest lead was 60-45 and Rutgers got no closer than nine the rest of the way. Omoruyi eventually fouled out with a season-low three points and zero rebounds.
–Field Level Media