Mississippi State 60, Alcorn State 42: Craig Sword and Fred Thomas scored 14 points apiece as the host Bulldogs bounced back from three consecutive double-digit losses.

Roquez Johnson scored 13 points and Gavin Ware added a career-high 12 rebounds for Mississippi State (2-4), which opened the game with a 24-9 run. The Bulldogs shot 50 percent over the first 20 minutes and led by 16 at halftime.

Anthony Evans led Alcorn State (2-5) with 12 points and LeAntwan Luckett chipped in 11. The Braves shot just 28.3 percent – including 23.5 percent from 3-point range – and were outrebounded by 27.

Mississippi State was never threatened in its first game since going winless against North Carolina, Marquette and Texas at last week’s Maui Invitational. The Bulldogs outrebounded their first opponent this season and led by 23 after Thomas’ dunk with 10:20 remaining.

The Bulldogs, who improved to 21-2 all-time against current members of the 10-team Southwestern Athletic Conference, made just two of their 13 shots from 3-point range.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Mississippi State F Colin Borchert fouled out of his first contest since missing three games for violating team rules. … Ware and Tyson Cunningham made their first career starts for the Bulldogs. … Mississippi State had 18 turnovers after committing at least 21 in each of their three losses in Maui.