Mississippi State beats travel-weary Missouri 68-49

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Tolu Smith scored 16 points, Iverson Molinar added 13 points and Mississippi State beat Missouri 68-49 on Friday night in a game delayed 2 hours, 30 minutes due to travel issues for the Tigers.

Mississippi State took its first lead of the game during a 10-0 run in the opening 10 minutes and led the rest of the way. Missouri didn't make a field goal in the final five minutes of the first half and trailed 34-23.

Andersson Garcia's three-point play with 13:28 left in the second half put Mississippi State ahead by double-figures for good. Smith scored 11 points in the second half, and Molinar had nine in the opening 20 minutes.

D.J. Jeffries had 12 points for Mississippi State (15-11, 6-7 SEC), which snapped a four-game losing streak. Garrison Brooks had 10 points and seven rebounds.

Ronnie DeGray III scored 13 points and Javon Pickett added 11 for Missouri (10-16, 4-9). The Tigers were held to 31% shooting, going 16 of 51 from the field.

Missouri was scheduled to fly on Thursday, but wasn't able to leave for another 24 hours due to flight delays caused by the weather.

The teams are set to play each other again on Sunday in a rescheduled game from Jan. 5.

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