No. 21 State Posts Impressive 75-62 Win Against West Virginia

STARKVILLE, Miss. - In front of a national television audience and a raucous Humphrey Coliseum, the No. 21 Mississippi State Bulldogs knocked off West Virginia Mountaineers, 75-62, for their seventh-straight victory.

Led by a stellar performance from junior Arnett Moultrie, who put up his fourth double-double of the season with 21 points and 13 rebounds on 7 of 8 shooting, the Bulldogs (8-1) pulled away late for a victory in the SEC-Big East Challenge.

"We are just trying to win ballgames," Moultrie said. "I knew they were going to come out aggressive. I just wanted to match that aggression."

State jumped out to a lead early with a quick three from senior Dee Bost, getting the Dogs on a 21-13 run highlighted by rim-shaking dunks from Renardo Sidney and DeVille Smith.

Another Smith slam and a combo of buckets from Smith and Jalen Steele put State up 10 with 8:30 remaining in the first half. West Virginia (4-2) would use a strong surge at the end of the half to cut the Bulldog's lead down to two.

Coach Bob Huggins' team grabbed its first and only lead early in the second off a Deniz Kilicli free throw, but would never see it again. The Mountaineers continued to keep it close for the next nine minutes, but a 23-10 run, highlighted by Bost slam, would seal the game shut.

"It gave us a nice spark," said Bost on his dunk. "It gave us a nice boost, and all we had to do was keep defending."

As the Gold Team entered the game with under a minute remaining, the fans that packed the Hump began to grow louder, en route to another big victory from the Maroon and White.

Along with Moultrie's solid play, Bost put up 17 points and 7 assists and Steele scored 10 points on 4 of 6 shooting.

Leading the Mountaineers of the Big East was junior Deniz Kilicli, who scored 14 points and 7 rebounds, and senior Kevin Jones, who put up 14 points and 9 rebounds.

For the game, the Bulldogs hit 25 of 51 shots from the field (49.0 percent), 5 of 17 from long range (29.4 percent), and 20 of 24 from the charity stripe (83.3 percent). The Mountaineers hit 23 of 58 shots from the field (39.7 percent), 2 of 15 from three (13.3 percent), and 14 of 20 from the foul line (70.0 percent).

Mississippi State will be back in action next Saturday at the Hump when it host the Troy Trojans. Tip is set for 3 p.m.