Tolu Smith’s 20-point outing and Mississippi State’s stout defense worked to keep the No. 23 Bulldogs unbeaten Sunday night, rolling to a 69-51 win over the host Minnesota Golden Gophers in Minneapolis, Minn.
The Bulldogs (9-0), who joined the Associated Press Top 25 this week for the first time since 2019, entered the game leading the nation by allowing just 49.6 points per game.
They held Minnesota to 28.8 percent shooting (15 for 52) and forced 15 turnovers. They outscored the Big Ten school 34-14 in points in the paint.
Smith went 6-for-9 from the field and had five rebounds. A 52 percent foul shooter, Smith made all but one of his nine shots from the stripe.
Shakeel Moore had 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting and 3 for 4 from long distance. Cameron Matthews had 11 points and six rebounds. D.J. Jeffries produced 10 points, eight boards and seven assists.
In losing their fifth straight, the Golden Gophers (4-6) struggled to find offense, especially in the first half.
Dawson Garcia topped them with 20 points on 7-for-13 shooting and 3 for 5 from deep. Braeden Carrington grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
Ranked last in the Big Ten in points scored per game (64.4), Minnesota held a 6-2 lead four minutes into the matchup behind Garcia’s five points and were up one at the media timeout.
But the first half played out as expected between the low-scoring squads, with plenty of ball movement and field-goal shooting below 35 percent for most of the first 20 minutes.
Down 18-12 with 7:40 left in the half, Minnesota scored seven straight points on a 3-pointer from Ta’Lon Cooper, a layup from Pharrel Payne and two free throws by Jamison Battle.
However, Moore’s trey and dunk plus five free throws — four from Smith — led to a 10-0 run that put the Bulldogs ahead 32-24 at halftime.
In the second half, the Bulldogs opened on a 10-2 run behind Jeffries’ four points to take control by pushing the lead to 42-26. The buckets came easily from inside and on the break as they built an 18-point lead at 12:16.
–Field Level Media
