Mississippi State beats MVSU 89-68
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi State's Roquez Johnson and Gavin Ware combined for 39 points Monday night and the Bulldogs rolled to an 89-68 victory over Mississippi Valley State.
Fred Thomas scored 17 for Mississippi State (2-0). Trivante Bloodman and Travis Daniels also finished in double digits with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
The Delta Devils (1-2) were led by Jordan Washington with 18 points. Tyler Corley scored 17.
Johnson's 20 points tied a career-high and the senior forward was 9 of 11 from the field and grabbed six rebounds. Ware was 9-of-10 from the field with eight rebounds.
Mississippi State shot 69 percent in the first half to build a commanding 58-34 halftime lead. The Bulldogs were 15 of 21 at the charity stripe in the opening 20 minutes, and outrebounded Mississippi Valley State 47-25.
The Delta Devils shot 34.3 percent in the first half and committed eight turnovers in the half.
Mississippi State outscored Mississippi Valley State 50-28 in the paint and shot 59.6 percent from the field.
Thomas scored 14 points in the first half and was 3 of 4 from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs made their first three attempts beyond the arc but missed 11 of their last 12 3-point attempts.
Mississippi Valley State shot 35.3 percent from the field and made just 8 of 28 3-point attempts.
TIP-INS
Mississippi State: The Bulldogs are now 24-5 all-time against schools from the SWAC. Mississippi State is 2-0 for the second straight season under head coach Rick Ray. The 58 first-half points was the most by Mississippi State since having 57 against Auburn on Jan. 22 of last season. The 26 turnovers were the most by Mississippi State since 2007.
Mississippi Valley State: The Delta Devils are now 0-5 all-time against Mississippi State. Andre Payne is in his first season with the Delta Devils after an eight-year coaching stint at Wiley College in the NAIA ranks.
UP NEXT
Mississippi State hosts Utah State Saturday.
Mississippi Valley State travels to Tulane on Thursday.