Cyclones.com — STARKVILLE, Miss. – Iowa State (2-9, 0-7 Big 12) fell 95-56 to Mississippi State (10-8, 4-5 SEC) on Saturday evening at Humphrey Coliseum in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Rasir Bolton scored a team-high 18 points, to go with seven rebounds, but the Cyclones shot just 34 percent from the field, and 16.7 percent (4-of-24) on 3-point attempts.
The Bulldogs reeled off a 9-0 run to take control early in Saturday’s nonconference matchup. Following a 3-pointer by freshman Darlinstone Dubar to open the scoring, Mississippi State scored nine points in less than two minutes of game time. The Cyclones had trouble containing the MSU duo of D.J. Stewart Jr. and Iverson Molinar, who led all scorers with 13 points and 12 points respectively in the first half.
Stewart Jr. knocked down back-to-back triples to extend the Bulldog lead to double digits at 28-13 with 8:25 remaining the first half. The Cyclones continued to battle, but were unable to string consecutive scoring possessions together to cut into the deficit. A Molinar basket in transition to beat the buzzer put MSU in front 44-28 at the intermission.
Rasir Bolton scored a team-high 7 points in the first half, while the Cyclones shot just 41.7 percent from the field, and 27.3 percent (3-of-11) from beyond the 3-point line.
The Bulldogs cushioned their lead with a 9-0 run to open the second half, including six points from sophomore big man Tolu Smith. Bolton continued to pace the ISU offense, scoring eight of the first 10 Cyclone points in the second period, but his offense would not be enough to prevent the Bulldogs from pulling away. An 11-0 MSU run extended the lead to 68-33 with 12:47 to play.
From there, the Bulldogs would cruise to 95-56 victory while shooting 50.7 percent from the field and 42.1 percent on 3-pointers. Molinar finished with a game-high 20 points for MSU.
Iowa State returns home to face West Virginia on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum.
