January 31, 2026; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers center Sean Phillips Jr. (15) dunks in the second half against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Missouri Arena. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images Missouri State’s Mark Mitchell had a game-high 17 points and four rebounds, and the Tigers earned their 10th Southeastern Conference win by beating Mississippi State 88-64 on Saturday afternoon in Starkville, Mississippi.
Missouri (20-9, 10-6 SEC) came into the game from the opening tip and never gave up a wire-to-wire victory, running out to a 20-point lead, 28-8, just past the midway point of the first half.
Sean Phillips Jr. scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half and had four rebounds and two blocks.
Anthony Robinson scored 13 points and TO Barrett and Trent Pierce each had 10 points.
Missouri scored 27 points off Mississippi State’s 18 turnovers and went up 20-1 when scoring at least 73 points in a game.
The Bulldogs (13-16, 5-11), who lost for the sixth time in eight games and have lost three games overall, failed to take care of the ball on the offensive end and their defense, which ranks next to last in the conference after allowing 80 points per game, also failed to defend itself.
Josh Hubbard, second in the SEC in scoring with 21.6 points per game, led the way with 16 points and three steals, while Quincy Ballard had 12 points and six boards.
Missouri, a very underdog favorite in the matchup, didn’t make that play right away, scoring its first nine points, highlighted by Phillips’ huge putback dunk at 18:45. The home team finally scored on a Hubbard layup nearly three minutes later.
Missouri made seven of its first 10 shots and got four points apiece from Mitchell and Phillips, but the visitors’ size and athleticism were a clear advantage as the Bulldogs made just three field goals and fell behind 20-6 with 12 minutes remaining.
Missouri State increased its lead to 50-19 with 2:07 to play after Barrett made two free throws. They shot 61.3 percent (19 of 31) and forced 12 Mississippi State turnovers to take a 54-23 lead into the locker room at halftime. This is the team’s largest halftime lead in SEC play this season.
Six minutes into the second half, the Tigers’ lead grew to 60-30 while Missouri went on a 12-2 run.
That stretch was accentuated by Pierce’s wing 3-pointer at 12:42 for a 68-32 advantage as the Bulldogs were unable to make up the massive deficit.
The Tigers continued their onslaught, extending their lead to 36 points in their last eight outings and rolling to 6-2.
–Field level media
