The Mississippi State Bulldogs started strong in their first round Southeastern Conference tournament meeting with South Carolina, but they soon lost control of the ball and then the game.
The Gamecocks, who trail State in the series 7-10, turned 17 Bulldog turnovers into 22 points and handed MSU a 59-44 loss, expelling them quickly from the conference tournament.
The Gamecocks now move on to play the SEC East’s top seed, No. 14 Tennessee, in the quarterfinals.
South Carolina (16-14) stretched a seven-point halftime lead into as much as 13, but the Bulldogs made a small rally after the Gamecocks went over six minutes without a field goal.
A put-back lay-up from Wesley Morgan cut the deficit to eight, but Gamecock guard Bryce Sheldon ended the drought with a long three-pointer to make the score 49-38.
The lead would grow from there, as the Bulldogs would only score six points in the final seven minutes.
Mississippi State (15-15) got off to a great start, hitting its first four shots and taking an early 10-4 lead. However, turnovers would be costly, as the Gamecocks immediately went on an 18-5 run.
To contrast the Bulldogs’ ball-handling woes, South Carolina had a season-low four turnovers.
Charles Rhodes and Jamont Gordon each had 11 points for Mississippi State, whose last first-round tournament loss also came in Nashville in 2001. Gordon also pulled down 11 rebounds but had eight turnovers to just four assists.
Gordon’s three assists in the first half broke MSU’s single season freshman assist record of 127 held by Rich Knarr.
Wesley Morgan started the game for State and played 18 minutes, scoring nine points. Morgan, possibly playing in his final game, made four of six shots.
Renaldo Balkman scored 12 points to lead South Carolina, who made 41 percent of their shots.
Though they outrebounded South Carolina 34-27, State only shot five free throws and made just three goal from beyond the arc.
State got no points from its bench.
Mississippi State, will hope to receive a bid in the National Invitational Tournament after four years of NCAA invitations.