STARKVILLE — Rocket Watts was open.

The Mississippi State guard stood alone in the left corner when the pass came in. Watts took a second to set his feet, but his 3-pointer bounced off the rim and into the arms of a teammate as the Bulldogs maintained possession.

Then, from the other side of the arc, Watts made it happen.

Closely guarded by Lamar in the right corner, the sophomore cut the basket and laid the ball in with a nifty move just before the shot clock expired.

It was proof Watts might still be rusty, but he’s finding his rhythm.

Watts played the best game of his career in Starkville to date, scoring 15 points to lead Mississippi State (6-1) to a 75-60 win over Lamar (1-6) on Thursday at Humphrey Coliseum.

“I thought that Rocket gave us a huge lift tonight,” coach Ben Howland said. “Rocket had his best game as a Bulldog thus far. I think you’re seeing glimpses of how he’ll be able to help us.”

The Michigan State transfer guard was just 2 for 8 so far this season, playing in four games since returning from offseason hip surgery. Howland said Wednesday he expected Watts to start slow after coming back from a significant injury, but a 6-for-6 practice Tuesday including four made 3s was reason for optimism.

Watts nearly matched those numbers in a real game Thursday against the Cardinals. In just 13 minutes, he went 6 for 8 from the field and 3 for 4 from deep.

“For me to come out and play how I did and for my teammates to keep believing in me and (that) we came out with the win, I feel really great,” Watts said.

Back-to-back triples from Watts in the second half helped Mississippi State pull away from a Lamar team determined to hang around. Watts put the Bulldogs up 55-41 with 10:50 to play, stretching their lead into double digits for good.

Guard Iverson Molinar led Mississippi State with 17 points, scoring nine of them in the second half to help put the game away. Forward Tolu Smith had all 14 of his points in the second half after being held scoreless — and without a single rebound — in the first half.

Smith panned his performance both offensively and defensively, saying he “just wasn’t there mentally” in his 11 minutes on the court.

“To be honest, that was probably the worst half I’ve ever had at Mississippi State,” he said.

Smith said Howland “got on” him at halftime, which the Bulldogs’ coach acknowledged.

“You’ve got to rebound,” Howland told Smith. “Are you kidding me? You led the SEC in rebounding last year.”

The message worked. Smith went 5 of 6 from the field and made 4 of 7 free throws in the second half. He grabbed 11 rebounds, too

“I was pretty, you know, encouraging,” Howland added with a smile.

Smith’s emergence helped a Bulldogs team that led just 38-30 at halftime as Lamar sank four 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes to hang around. C.J. Roberts’ soft jumper with 2 seconds left in the half separated the Cardinals from a double-digit deficit.

Roberts led Lamar with 25 points on 10-of-19 shooting, while Davion Buster added 17. No other Cardinal had more than six points.

Lamar had just seven turnovers to Mississippi State’s 11, accounting for the Cardinals’ ability to stay in the game.

Until the Bulldogs knocked them out of it.

Buster hit a layup after Watts’ second straight 3-pointer to cut the MSU lead to 12, but the home team pulled away forcefully once again.

Smith and Molinar accounted for seven straight points to push the advantage to 19, Mississippi State’s largest lead of the night.

Lamar responded with eight points, including back-to-back 3s, to make it an 11-point game, but Cameron Matthews split two free throws before Molinar made a layup and knocked down a triple to nix the Cardinals’ chances.

The junior had a similar stretch early in the first half as Mississippi State scored nine straight points to break a 2-2 tie in the opening minutes. Molinar made a jumper to put the Bulldogs up 4-2 and capped the stretch with a 3-ball.

Lamar eventually cut the lead to 5 on a 3 by Buster and again on a layup by Lincoln Smith, but D.J. Jeffries and Javian Davis made a free throw apiece before Molinar hit another 3 with 33 seconds left in the half.

“I think he’s doing a great job,” Howland said of Molinar, praising the junior guard’s defense. “I’m playing him a lot of minutes. … His overall floor game was great. I’m really, really excited about it because he’s leading. He’s running the team.”

Molinar might be the Bulldogs’ best player, but he has plenty of help. Garrison Brooks entered double figures with 10 points Thursday, Shakeel Moore had seven, and Javian Davis contributed six off the bench.

But no one had a bigger impact in his minutes than Watts, and the Bulldogs reaped the rewards Thursday night.

“I just thought he played really well all the way around,” Howland said.

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