STARKVILLE — Malik Newman needed a breakout game.

The Mississippi State freshman showed glimpses and flashes earlier this season of the player he was in high school and why many schools like Kansas and Kentucky were recruiting the five-star guard from Callaway High School. But there hasn’t been a game this season where that thought was solidified.

He corrected that when he scored a career-high 25 points as he helped the Bulldogs beat in-state rival Ole Miss 83-77 Saturday afternoon inside Humphrey Coliseum.

“I needed it more than anything,” Newman said. “It was a confident booster and I think it kind of opened up some doors to my game.”

Newman’s previous career high was 20 against Northern Colorado in a win on Dec. 23 in his hometown of Jackson. Newman was averaging 11.2 points against Southeastern Conference teams, with a conference-high of 14 points against both Texas A&M and Kentucky.

Newman, who was shooting just under 40 percent from 3-point range, made 7 of 10 from 3-point range.

“I thought he was great all the time,” MSU coach Ben Howland said. “He did a great job as a lead guard. He really let the game come to him and was fantastic, absolutely spectacular.”

Newman scored just five points in the first half, but took over in the second and scored 20 to help the Bulldogs (8-10, 1-5 SEC) overcome a 38-36 halftime deficit to the Rebels (12-7, 2-5) and snap a four-game losing streak in the series.

With the game tied at 57 with 10 minutes, 5 seconds remaining, Newman began to step up. He received a pass in the right corner and dribbled down the baseline towards the goal, but a Rebel defender cut him off. He hesitated but pulled back shot a fadeaway that was good giving the Bulldogs a 59-57 lead. The Rebels answered on the other end as Rasheed Brooks (team-high 20 points) made a layup to tie things at 59. On the ensuing possession, Newman knocked down 3-point shot, the beginning of an 11-0 run, as the shot clock was running down to give the Bulldogs a 62-59 lead, a lead they never lost.

After Craig Sword (10 points) converted a layup, Newman knocked down another 3-point shot, this one from the top of the key to give the Bulldogs a 67-59 lead.

Brooks said the Rebels 2-2-1 zone defense was leaving Newman wide open in the corner and the big man on the backend couldn’t rotate over quickly enough to put a hand in Newman’s face.

“I thought he made shots and he got into a rhythm,” Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said. “I thought they did a better job of finding him.”

Trailing 45-39 with just under 16 minutes remaining, Bulldog freshman guard Quinndary Weatherspoon (18 points) knocked down a 3-pointer, the beginning of a 16-3 run that gave the Bulldogs a 55-48 lead with 12:21 left. Newman made two 3-pointers during the run, both coming from the left corner.

Newman knocked down a 3-pointer in the first half and made a pair of free throws in succession, but failed to get anything else going in the initial half.

He opened the second half with a 3 to give the Bulldogs a 39-38 lead.

“It was a tough one and it was contested,” Newman said. “I was able to knock it down. It felt good and it went in. I think that kind of triggered it.”

Newman was 6 of 8 form 3-point range in the second half.

Weatherspoon scored 15 points in the first half and the Rebels targeted him in the second half, leaving Newman with an opportunity to step up.

“My teammates, they did a great job of getting me some open looks,” Newman said. “In the first half, Q (Weatherspoon) did a great job of attacking the rim on the baseline, so they had to pay a lot of attention to him in the second half.”

The Bulldogs travel to South Carolina Tuesday for a 6 p.m. (SEC Network) game. Newman hopes his performance is something he can build on for the rest of the season and help his team be competitive down the stretch.

Howland is happy to see how this will affect his game down the stretch.

“I think Malik’s been very, very solid all year,” Howland said. “He’s playing better and better too. I think that was really a boost in his arm. I think it’s going to be fun to see him here and we have a lot of season left.”

Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait

Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.