National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Florida St. 90, Mississippi St. 66
When: 9:00 PM ET, Wednesday, December 16, 2015
Where: Donald L. Tucker Center, Tallahassee, Florida
Officials: # Jeffrey Anderson, # Doug Sirmons, # Michael Stephens
Attendance: 5466

Florida State won its third straight game on Wednesday night with a convincing 90-66 victory over Mississippi State at the Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee, Fla.

Led by guard Dwayne Bacon's 20 points, the Seminoles (7-2) snapped a two-game losing streak to the Bulldogs (4-5), who beat Florida State last season in Starkville, Miss., and also in 2007 in the NIT Tournament.

But before Wednesday, the two teams hadn't played in Tallahassee since 1955.

Florida State fell behind 25-18, then closed the first half on a 19-3 run to seize control after a four-minute scoring drought by Mississippi State.

The Bulldogs, who lost their second straight game, also had a 4 1/2-minute scoring drought early in the game after going up 15-8.

Mississippi State freshman guard Malik Newman and Florida State freshmen Malik Beasley and Bacon drew more than a dozen NBA scouts to the game.

Newman finished with 12 points but was hampered by cramps for much of the second half after leading the Bulldogs at intermission with 10. He left the game with about 10 minutes remaining -- the Bulldogs were down just nine points at the time -- and didn't return.

Guard Craig Sword paced Mississippi State with 20 points and forward Gavin Ware caused problems for Florida State's two 7-footers all night, finishing with 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Ware, however, was helped off the court with just under eight minutes to play after he suffered a right leg injury. He did not return.

Also reaching double figures for Florida State were Beasley and fellow guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes, both of whom posted double-doubles. Beasley finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds and two steals. Rathan-Mayes finished with 13 points and 10 boards.

Florida State center Boris Bojanovsky added 11 points -- including 7 of 9 from the foul line -- and six rebounds.

The Seminoles outrebounded the Bulldogs 46-32.
Top Game Performances
 
Mississippi St.   Florida St.
Craig Sword 20 Scoring Dwayne Bacon 20
Craig Sword 2 Assists Xavier Rathan-Mayes 4
Fred Thomas 9 Rebounds Malik Beasley 10
Craig Sword 6 Free Throws Made Boris Bojanovsky 7
Quinndary Weatherspoon 2 Steals Malik Beasley 2
Fallou Ndoye 1 Blocks Dwayne Bacon 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Mississippi St. 66 38.7 6-24 12-16 5 30 1 4 15
Florida St. 90 47.6 4-20 26-36 12 44 2 7 13