BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Tari Eason scored 23 points to spark LSU to a 69-65 victory over Mississippi State.
Eason came off the bench to score 10 points in the final 7:19 of the first half to propel LSU (18-7, 6-6 Southeastern Conference) to a 37-22 lead at intermission.
Iverson Molinar keyed a second-half comeback for Mississippi State.
He had 10 points in a 21-8 run and his 3-pointer pulled the Bulldogs even at 43 with 11:41 left in the game.
Shakeel Moore’s 3-pointer gave MSU a 48-45 lead — its first since the 13:46 mark of the first half — with 9:18 remaining.
Eason had two free throws and a dunk and LSU kept a two-possession lead after going up 58-50 with 5:14 remaining.
Molinar led MSU (14-10, 5-6) with 26 points.