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COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Mizzou Men's Basketball team seized control of the battle against Mississippi State with less than five minutes remaining, but its hold on the game's outcome was brief. The Bulldogs (12-13, 5-7) escaped Mizzou Arena with a 77-74 result on Saturday, using fouls and the free throw line to stay one step ahead of Mizzou (7-18, 1-11) down the stretch.
The tight game between the Tigers and Bulldogs saw a standout performance from sophomore forward Johnathan Williams, III. The Tiger turned it on in the second half, scoring 23 of his career-high 27 points following the halftime break. His third three-pointer, also a career-best, with less than two seconds remaining in the game set the score at 75-74 to MSU.
The Tigers trailed the Bulldogs, 40-29, at the halftime break, with Rosburg's eight points representing his best first half performance of the season. Rosburg helped get Mizzou to 29 points with a clutch feed to freshman forward Jakeenan Gant, who slammed down a two-handed dunk with five seconds left to give the Tigers the last points of the opening half.
Rosburg finished with 12 points on an extremely efficient 6-for-7 shooting day from the field.
Mizzou came out firing to start the second half and clawed the MSU lead down to 46-40 at the first media break, with a Williams three-pointer immediately preceding the timeout at 15:37.
A huge offensive rebound for freshman forward D'Angelo Allen and resulting putback with 8:30 left in the game cut Mississippi State's lead to three points at 55-52. The Bulldogs punched right back with a jumpshot at 8:15 to regain a five-point lead.
Mississippi State was led by dual 22-point scoring efforts from Roquez Johnson and Craig Sword. The duo combined for 25 free throws, while Mizzou shot 26 altogether.
Senior guard Keith Shamburger also reached double figures in scoring for the Tigers, dropping in 15 points on 3-of-8 field goal shooting. The Tiger point guard also dished out six assists, marking his seventh game this season with at least five dimes.
The Tigers hit the road for Arkansas on Wednesday, Feb. 18, with the matchup airing on the SEC Network at 8 p.m.