Tolu Smith tallied a game-high 16 points and Mississippi State's defense held Missouri to 31.4 percent shooting as the Bulldogs thumped the Tigers 68-49 Friday night in Starkville, Miss.

In a good defensive showing throughout, Mississippi State (15-11, 6-7 Southeastern Conference) built an 11-point halftime lead and was never threatened in the second half by Missouri (10-16, 4-9).

Smith shot 5 of 11 and grabbed three rebounds. Iverson Molinar posted 13 points for the Bulldogs.

Averaging over 18.4 points per game over 26 games, Molinar is one of three players in the nation to score in double figures in every game he has played in, joining Ohio State's EJ Liddell and Ohio's Mark Sears.

D.J. Jeffries managed 12 points and five assists, while Garrison Brooks added 10 points and seven rebounds for Mississippi State. Andersson Garcia scored seven points and tied a career high with eight boards.

In breaking a four-game losing streak, the Bulldogs won their fifth straight over Missouri. The victory was their 10th in the past 11 meetings dating back to the 2014-15 season.

They are 11-5 in the all-time series against the Tigers.

Ronnie DeGray III topped Missouri with 13 points, and Javon Pickett had 11. But the Tigers made just 16 of 51 field-goal attempts and were outscored 34-20 in the paint.

They fell to 2-8 on the road and 2-7 in their past nine games.

The two teams will conclude their season series Sunday night in Missouri in a match originally set for Jan. 5 that was rescheduled due to COVID-19 issues in the Tigers' program.

The contest's tipoff was delayed 2 1/2 hours due to Missouri's difficulties in making the trip to Starkville after an icy weather spell.

The trip continued to be miserable for Missouri into the game.

Garcia swiped two passes -- one leading to a layup, the other a breakaway dunk -- as the Bulldogs moved ahead 11-7 with 11:49 left in the half.

Using a 14-4 edge on points in the paint, the Bulldogs owned a 34-23 advantage at the break after Brooks' foul-line jumper to end the first 20 minutes.

--Field Level Media