Mississippi State used an 18 point second-half explosion from junior Barry Stewart to overcome a sluggish start and 4-point halftime deficit to beat South Carolina 82-68 Friday.
State outshot the Gamecocks by more than 10 percent after trailing in that department at halftime.
The Dawgs were slow out of the gate as they have been for the entire tournament, falling behind quickly. The Gamecocks built a 10-point lead on two different occasions, at 14-4 and 28-18. State utilized a brief assault from three-point land, hitting 3 three-pointers to close the gap and trail by only four at halftime.
State closed the gap and eventually took the lead with just over five minutes gone in the second half after squandering multiple opportunities to do so.
From there, the two teams battled with neither team able to obtain any separation. Twice, South Carolina erased a three-point Bulldog lead with a shot from downtown before building its last lead at 55-52.
Thirty seconds later, Stewart found himself with a wide-open look from beyond the arc. He calmly checked his feet then found nothing but twine on a three-point attempt, tying the game for the final time.
That shot was important not only for State’s chances to win the game, but as a personal milestone for Stewart. The shot was his 197th career three, tying him with former Bulldog great Timmy Bowers for second on MSU’s all-time career made three-pointers list.
A little more than a minute later, Stewart let fly from deep again, giving MSU a lead it wouldn’t relinquish and giving Stewart sole possession of second place in the record books.
He said he had been compared to Bowers his entire career. He also said personal accomplishments are nice, but the team’s results are more important.
“You can break all types of records but if you’re not on a winning team, nobody remembers you,” he said.
Standout USC point guard Devan Downey, who was matched up with Stewart for much of the game, said Stewart got the better of the matchup for the second time.
“He outplayed me two games,” Downey said. “He won two games and I didn’t win any. So for respect, he outplayed me.”
Mississippi State finished the game on a 9-0 scoring spurt that broke the game wide open. With the exception of that final minute, the game was a hotly contested defensive battle which saw each team finish with 8 blocks.
MSU junior center Jarvis Varnado finished with 6 blocks, giving him 152 on the season. He now sits just 5 blocks shy of the SEC’s single-season record of 157, which he tied last year.
The Bulldogs now turn their attention to conference champion LSU, which has beaten the Bulldogs twice already.
The last meeting was a 97-94 double-overtime heartbreaker in Starkville that marked the front end of a miserable stretch for the Bulldogs. In that stretch, State lost five of six games, playing themselves out of contention for the Western Division crown and into third place.
LSU earned a spot in the semifinals by besting Kentucky Friday.
Tipoff for the MSU-LSU game is noon CST and will air on Raycom Sports.