BATON ROUGE, La. (Interstat) — Mississippi State built a massive first-half lead and withstood a late LSU rally to win 80-66 in a Southeastern Conference men’s basketball game Wednesday night at Maravich Assembly Center.

The Bulldogs, led by Quincy Ballard’s 13 points, scored the game’s first 10 points and led 44-21 at halftime. The Tigers, who got 15 points from Max Mackinnon, outscored Mississippi State 45-36 after intermission but never closed the gap to single digits.

Mississippi State (9-10) shot 50.9% from the field and made 10 3-pointers. LSU (13-8) struggled offensively, shooting 4 for 20 from beyond the arc and 12 for 23 from the free-throw line. The announced attendance was 7,501.