Quinndary Weatherspoon scored 16 points and Lamar Peters added 15 as Mississippi State renewed a rivalry with Southern Miss with an 86-44 victory on Monday at Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson.

Tyson Carter had 11 points while Aric Holman collected 11 rebounds for the Bulldogs (7-3).

Raheem Watts had a team-high nine points as the Golden Eagles (3-6) suffered a second-half collapse en route to their fifth straight loss.

Mississippi State never trailed, opening with six straight points, led 13-4 lead by the 13:22 mark and reached double digits on I.J. Ready's steal and layup for a 21-10 advantage with 8:56 showing. Weatherspoon had 12 points as the Bulldogs built a 39-25 lead by intermission.

In the second half, Mississippi State then scored 35 unanswered points over 12 minutes for a 76-29 lead with 5:55 to play. Southern Miss went 0-for-19 from the field during that span, finally broken by D'Angelo Richardson's 3-point jumper with 5:33 remaining.

Mississippi State shot 29 of 59 from the field (49.2 percent) including 17 of 29 (58.6 percent) from beyond the arc. Southern Miss was 15 of 65 (23.1 percent) and hit just five 3-pointers.

Mississippi State now leads the series 15-4 after the first meeting since a 2001 National Invitation Tournament clash. The neutral site game was the first of four scheduled between the in-state rivals.

Both teams resume play on Thursday as Mississippi State hosts Morehead State while Southern Miss plays San Diego State in the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii.