The 18th-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers (7-2) had no chance from the opening tip against Mississippi State (7-1) on Wednesday night.
The Bulldogs led by 22 at the half and never looked back in a 90-57 blowout win over the Panthers.
Pittsburgh had no answer for Mississippi State. The Bulldogs went 37-for-64 from the floor (57.8%) and outrebounded Pittsburgh, 49-27. Mississippi State also dominated in the paint, 52-14.
Junior KeShawn Murphy put up a team-high 20 points off the bench. While Josh Hubbard, who leads the team with 19.1 points per game, was held to 12 points on 5-of-12 shooting, sophomore Michael Nwoko made up for Hubbard’s subpar performance.
Nwoko had 18 points, 11 rebounds and went 7-for-9 in the game. This powerful slam from Nwoko added to the dominant showing from Mississippi State, extending the Bulldogs lead to 49-25 less than a minute into the second half.
