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Lawrence Roberts scored nine of his game-high 15 points in the second half Saturday to lead Mississippi State to a 72-50 victory over Tulane in the opening game of the Sugar Bowl Classic.
Roberts, a transfer from Baylor and a two-time all-Big 12 Conference selection, dunked on the game's opening possession to start a 13-0 Mississippi State run.
The Bulldogs scored the final 14 points of the half and led 39-18 at halftime.
Timmy Bowers added 14 points for Mississippi State (10-0) and Winsome Frazier scored 10. Bowers' free throw at 16:53 of the first half made him the 26th player in Mississippi State history to score 1,000 career points.
Quincy Davis scored 13 points and Wayne Tinsley 10 for Tulane (5-4), which lost its third straight game.
After Mississippi
State's opening run, Tulane never got closer than seven points. The Bulldogs'
largest lead was 61-28 with nine minutes left.
Mississippi State outshot Tulane 44-30 percent from the field and outscored
the Green Wave 12-4 from the line.
The Bulldogs had a season-high 15 steals, 11 in the first half. Frazier tied his career best of five steals for the second consecutive game.
The Bulldogs beat the Green Wave for the third time in four years and has not lost to Tulane since the 1965-66 season.
LSU beat Alabama-Birmingham 78-62 in the second game of the Sugar Bowl Classic doubleheader.