Mississippi State 77, Maryland-Eastern Shore 63: Gavin Ware was the difference in this non-conference game, scoring 21 points and grabbing 16 rebounds as the Bulldogs held off the visiting Hawks.

Ware was 10-of-14 in scoring more than 20 points for the second time this season and Colin Borchert scored a career-high 22 points to go with five rebounds and five assists for Mississippi State (10-3), which matched its win total from all of last season. Fred Thomas had 10 points, I.J. Ready added seven points and six assists, and Roquez Johnson provided eight points and nine rebounds.

KyRee Jones scored 18 points, but did it going 6-of-18 from the field, including 4-of-12 from beyond the arc for the Hawks (2-10). Issac Smith III had 15 points and six assists in the loss.

Mississippi State enjoyed the better of the play early on, going 3-of-6 and forcing four turnovers by the Hawks, who quickly regrouped after a 1-of-5 start to take their only lead at 10-8 behind six straight points from Smith. With the score knotted at 12, Craig Sword had his only two points of the half and Ware scored the next eight points for the Bulldogs, who led 22-14 before ending the half on a 7-1 to lead 29-20.

Points came fast and furious for the Bulldogs in the opening five minutes of the second half as Borchert and Ware accounted for the first 13 points and Thomas and Jacoby Davis each nailed a 3-pointer to grow the lead to 48-29. The Hawks made several runs and cut the deficit to nine points on the third 3-pointer by Devon Walker with just over three minutes left, but could not get any closer.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Sword, who came in averaging 15.3 points, had just three points for the Bulldogs, who shot 46.8 percent and went 13-of-18 from the foul line. ... The Hawks were 9-of-31 from the field and 1-of-13 from beyond the arc in the first half. ... Ware went 6-of-8 and had 12 points and 11 rebounds in the first half.