STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi State sat its star down, then put pesky South Carolina away.
With Lawrence Roberts on the bench and in foul trouble, the 17th-ranked Bulldogs rallied for a 73-65 victory over South Carolina on Saturday night, bouncing back from a 49-point loss with the closest of their 10 consecutive home wins.
"We responded with our best player on the bench," Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury said. "Our backs were against the wall a little bit coming into this game, and I'm very proud of the way we responded."
Roberts had 17 points and 12 rebounds to lead five Bulldogs in double figures, but he picked up his fourth foul with 12:12 left and the score tied at 45.
Marcus Campbell took over, scoring five of his 11 points during a 16-5 run that pushed Mississippi State's lead into double figures for good.
"When Lawrence went out, we as a team just had to move on," Campbell said.
Jamall Edmondson and Shane Power also had 11 points each for Mississippi State (16-4, 4-2 Southeastern Conference).
The Bulldogs won their seven previous games in the Humphrey Coliseum this season by an average of 25 points, but South Carolina wouldn't let this one get away until late.
Everything slipped away from the Gamecocks in their best-case scenario -- with Mississippi State's best player temporarily out of the game.
"(When) Roberts got his fourth foul, we've got to take advantage of his absence," South Carolina coach Dave Odom said. "Mississippi State tightened the reins a little bit (and) made almost no mistakes at that point."
Roberts could only watch as Campbell and Dietrich Slater keyed the run that pushed the lead into double figures for the first time, 60-50 with 7:11 remaining. South Carolina couldn't get closer than six the rest of the way.
Neither team led by more than six points until the middle of the second half, when Slater's 12-footer made it 58-50 during the Bulldogs' game-deciding run.
Slater finished with 10 points, Campbell added 10 rebounds and Roberts had 12 points and 10 rebounds by halftime for Mississippi State, which has won four in a row and six of seven against South Carolina in Starkville.
Tre Kelley tied a career high with 22 points and Carlos Powell added 18 for South Carolina (10-6, 2-3), which shot 50 percent from the field.
"I had a couple of openings, and I did better about recognizing them," Kelley said. "I just finished at the basket."
The Gamecocks fell to 0-5 on the road. Four of those losses came against teams ranked at the time.
Mississippi State bounced back from a 49-point loss at No. 22 Alabama, which matched the second-worst loss in school history.
In that game, the Bulldogs didn't make a 3-pointer for the first time in nearly four years -- mainly because top long-distance threat Winsome Frazier was out with a broken foot -- and had lost two of three before playing South Carolina.
"We knew still we were one of the top teams, even when we lost to Alabama," Slater said. "But we had to show everybody else."
Against the Gamecocks, whose 3-point defense ranks among the SEC's worst, Mississippi State recovered well, hitting 6-of-17 from beyond the arc -- including 4-of-9 in the second half.
Then, they received some encouraging news -- doctors re-evaluated Frazier and said the Bulldogs' guard might return in four weeks.
"If that's something that works out, that'll be great," Stansbury said.
