STARKVILLE — Cameron Matthews wanted one last block.

The Mississippi State forward already had two to his name by the final seconds of Tuesday’s game against South Carolina at Humphrey Coliseum. But he wasn’t going to let the Gamecocks get an easy basket as the clock wound down, despite the Bulldogs’ double-digit lead.

So when Carolina’s Jacobi Wright drove to the basket, Matthews — playing with four fouls — got his long arm in the way, altering the shot and sending the basketball out of bounds.

He and Mississippi State apparently needed one final moment to flex their muscle.

The Bulldogs (14-7, 5-3 Southeastern Conference) had plenty in a 78-64 win over the Gamecocks (13-8, 4-5 SEC) — a score that belied MSU’s dominance nearly all evening.

“I feel like this was a great win for us,” guard Rocket Watts said. “We just have to stay consistent and just keep moving forward and keep getting better day by day.”

Mississippi State’s lead reached double digits barely seven minutes into the contest and never got below that benchmark. The Bulldogs led by as many as 23 points in the first half and, three times, led by 27 in the game.

South Carolina made the final score respectable with a late 13-0 run but never threatened to take the lead or even get close, only getting within 12 points on a Jermaine Couisnard 3-pointer with 38 seconds to go.

The Gamecocks were held to 41.4 percent shooting and just a 27.8 percent clip from deep. James Reese V led the team with 15 points, and Devin Carter added 10.

But it was all Mississippi State on Tuesday night as the Bulldogs rebounded from a pair of road losses to ranked schools Kentucky and Texas Tech to post a convincing home win.

Iverson Molinar continued his high-scoring ways with a game-high 20 points, but it was forward Garrison Brooks who was the story as MSU built its big lead early.

MSU coach Ben Howland said he implored Brooks to simply “shoot more” at Monday’s practice — both during the workout and in Tuesday night’s game.

“Who wouldn’t want to play for me when I’m telling you that?” Howland said. “Shoot more! Look for the shot. That’s a player’s delight to have your coach tell you that, and he obviously listened, because he was very aggressive tonight, especially in the first half.”

Brooks scored 17 of his 18 points in the first half, shooting 8 for 11 in the period and outscoring South Carolina until the 7:45 mark of the half. He had eight of Mississippi State’s first 12 points, setting the tone for the Bulldogs with strong midrange shooting.

He sank a jumper to cap a 13-0 run of Mississippi State’s own early in the first half. The Bulldogs started the stretch up by a point and concluded it with a 23-9 lead, effectively ending the game less than 10 minutes in.

“I thought we really played great in the first half in particular tonight,” Howland said. “I thought we came out laser focused at both ends of the floor.”

South Carolina, which came in with the SEC’s worst offense and certainly left with it, couldn’t get anything going in order to chip into the Bulldogs’ advantage. Three free throws by sophomore forward Derek Fountain, rarely used off the bench, put MSU up 20 for the first time with just under three minutes to go in the first half.

Watts, another reserve for the Bulldogs, turned a two-game stretch of solid play into a three-game streak with 11 points Tuesday, nine of them in the second half. He hit three 3s despite a shooting motion in which he said he lacked complete confidence.

“I actually don’t feel comfortable shooting it right now,” Watts said. “They were just going in.”

Good enough for Mississippi State, which had plenty of its shots “just going in” Tuesday. The Bulldogs shot 54 percent from the field and 44 percent from deep, their best 3-point clip since Dec. 14 against Georgia State — 11 games ago.

MSU also outrebounded South Carolina by 17, including by three on the offensive glass. Both teams are strong on the boards, but the Bulldogs were significantly better Tuesday

“They emphasize rebounding; that’s something that we emphasize also,” Brooks said. “We just had to be that team to get it done tonight.”

The victory moved Mississippi State to 12-1 at Humphrey Coliseum this season, but off its home court, MSU has struggled throughout the season. The Bulldogs travel to face Arkansas (16-5, 5-3 SEC) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, matching up against a Razorbacks team that has won five straight games.

Mississippi State beat Arkansas 80-68 on Dec. 29 in Starkville, but with the Bulldogs set to face Tennessee, LSU and Alabama afterward, the two schools’ rematch will prove massive for MSU.

“Our biggest game of the year is coming up Saturday at Arkansas,” Howland said. “We’re going to have to be at our very best to win down there. It’s such a hard place with a great home-court advantage, but we’re looking forward to the challenge.”

Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.