STARKVILLE, Miss. - Lawrence Roberts scored 17 and Timmy Bowers had 15 points and nine assists for Mississippi State, which started the game with a 19-0 run and defeated Georgia 71-58 on Saturday.
Georgia finally scored on two free throws by Damien Wilkins with 11:58 left and didn't get its first field goal until Rashad Wright's 3-pointer with 10:40 left.
"Georgia beat the No. 3 team ... in Georgia Tech and went to (Kentucky) and won," Mississippi State coach Rich Stansbury said. "And for us to not just win the game, but to get off to a 19-0 run is a pretty good way to get a basketball game started against a pretty good team."
Down 63-43 with 5:57 left, Georgia's 11-2 run, including Wright's 3-pointer with 2:34 left, made it 65-54. But Roberts dunked 30 seconds later after a miss by Bowers.
"I saw our team do a fine job of fighting back," Georgia coach Dennis Felton said. "Our team didn't let the emotion of falling back 19-0 destroy them."
