Mississippi State rides big first half past Missouri, 76-62

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) Malik Newman scored 19 points and Quinndary Weatherspoon added 18 points and 14 rebounds as Mississippi State built a big first-half lead and cruised to a 76-62 win over Missouri Saturday night.

Weatherspoon drilled a 3-pointer in the first minute of the game to get the Bulldogs out of the blocks quickly and the team never trailed the rest of the way. Newman hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give Mississippi State a 26-15 lead with 7:14 left and by intermission the lead had been pushed to 17, 37-20.

Newman drew a foul behind the arc and converted all three free throws barely three minutes into the half, then knocked down a trey to push the lead to 50-28.

Mississippi State (9-11, 2-6 Southeastern) held Missouri to just 2 of 25 shooting from beyond the arc.

Namon Wright led the Tigers (8 of 13, 1-7) with 16 points.