Mississippi State beats previously unbeaten Georgia 83-73

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Iverson Molinar scored a career-high 24 points, D.J. Stewart Jr. added 18 and Mississippi State beat previously unbeaten Georgia 83-73 on Wednesday night in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.

Mississippi State (6-3) has won four straight against Georgia (7-1), including its largest margin of victory in the series, 91-59 at home last season.

Molinar made four 3-pointers and was 8 of 14 from the field. Stewart was 8-of-20 shooting and had seven rebounds. The pair entered averaging 35.9 points, which trails only LSU’s Cameron Thomas and Trendon Watford in the SEC.

Deivon Smith had all 13 of his points in the first half for Mississippi State, which made 12 3-pointers and shot 44% (29 of 66) from the field. Jalen Johnson added 12 points.

P.J. Horne made five 3-pointers and finished with a career-best 21 points to lead Georgia. Toumani Camara added 11 points, and Tye Fagan and Christian Brown had 10 apiece.

Three consecutive 3-pointers, one from Molinar and two from Deivon Smith, gave Mississippi State a double-digit lead midway through the first half as they built a 41-27 halftime lead. Georgia pulled to 67-56 before Mississippi State stretched its lead to 18 with 3:06 remaining.

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