STARKVILLE — It was pure instinct from Michael Nwoko as the rebound from Claudell Harris Jr.’s missed 3-pointer caromed his way late in the first half of Mississippi State’s game against Pittsburgh on Wednesday night.

The 6-foot, 10-inch center swatted at the ball with his right hand, not appearing to aim it anywhere in particular. But when it’s your night, it’s your night. Nwoko’s inadvertent tip hit the backboard and bounced through the net. That’s how good the Bulldogs were against the No. 18 Panthers — they scored even when they didn’t mean to.

Nwoko’s accidental bucket was part of a career night for the Miami transfer and part of a 22-3 run for MSU in a 90-57 thumping of Pitt, the Bulldogs’ most lopsided win over a ranked opponent in program history.

“We see it every day at practice (from Nwoko),” fifth-year senior forward Cameron Matthews said. “We see spurts of his athleticism. We’re just trying to get him to do it more and more every night.”

After a defensive performance that head coach Chris Jans characterized as “awful” in Friday’s loss to Butler in Arizona, MSU (7-1) responded in a big way in front of a lively home crowd. Matthews tipped in his own missed shot on the game’s first possession, setting the tone for a huge night on the glass and in the paint for the Bulldogs. MSU outscored the Panthers 52-14 in the paint and had a 49-27 edge in rebounding, controlling the game from tip to buzzer.

Nwoko, in just 18 minutes, finished with 18 points and 11 boards, punctuating his night with his first made 3-pointer of the year. KeShawn Murphy, coming off the bench, set a new career high with 20 points, and he and Nwoko combined to go 15-for-19 from the floor.

“I’m starting to get comfortable, starting to find my role on the team and who I am,” Murphy said. “That really just opened up space for others and us as a team.”

Josh Hubbard added 12 points for the Bulldogs, and RJ Melendez and Harris chipped in with 10 apiece. Matthews was one point shy of a double-double, pulling down 13 rebounds to go along with four steals. MSU shot 58 percent as a team and also had a big advantage in points off turnovers and fast-break points.

Five nights after allowing Butler to make more than half of its field goals and 3-pointers, the Bulldogs came out sharp on defense as Pitt started the game 4-for-23 from the field. The team that entered the night fifth in the NET rankings was never in the game.

“We watched some tough tape,” Jans said. “We showed them probably 20 clips of our last outing, where it was poor. Everything that happened after that point of attack did not result in good things for us, so we really spent a lot of time on that and showed them it and just tried to get better at it. We didn’t go back to the drawing board and start defending any differently at the point of attack.”

MSU made nine straight shots early in the second half to continue to stretch the lead, which reached 35 at one point. Jaland Lowe had 19 points for the Panthers (7-2), but the Bulldogs held Pitt’s leading scorer, Ishmael Leggett, to just six points on 3-for-14 shooting and 0-for-4 from deep.

Jans and company are back at Humphrey Coliseum on Sunday, when MSU hosts Prairie View A&M.

“I just didn’t know how we’d respond. Practice is one thing, but under the lights is another,” Jans said. “I would love for our team to have Cameron Matthews’ personality this year. That’s the goal. Tonight, I felt like that’s what we played like. We had his personality that got on the floor. The more nights we can play like that, the more successful we’re going to be.”