By The Associated Press

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Mississippi State coach Rick Ray said Saturday he doesn’t care how his team wins on the road, just so long as it does. Still, he would like the Bulldogs to play better when holding a lead.

“I thought we got a little lackadaisical out there and lost some discipline, but fortunately we were able to hang on for the win,” he said after his team held off Missouri, 77-74.

After generating an 11-point halftime lead, the Bulldogs (12-13, 5-7 Southeastern Conference) converted all six of their free throws in the final minute to edge the Tigers, who lost their 11th consecutive game since winning their SEC opener against LSU on Jan. 8.

Roquez Johnson and Craig Sword both finished with 22 points to pace Mississippi State, which ended a two-game losing streak and won its third league game on the road.

Johnathan Williams III finished with a career-high 27 points for Missouri (7-18, 1-11), while Keith Shamburger added 15 and Ryan Rosburg a season-high 12.

“You’ve heard it before,” Tigers coach Kim Anderson said. “We got close, and we just couldn’t finish the deal.”

Despite Missouri scoring the first five points of the game, the Bulldogs seized control in the first half, using a 21-5 run to grab a 33-16 lead with 7:21 remaining before halftime. The Tigers answered with seven points of their own, but trailed 40-29 entering the break.

Missouri came to life in the second half, using a 13-4 run to narrow its deficit to 46-42 five minutes in. When Keanau Post drained a layup with 4:29 remaining to give the Tigers a 64-63 advantage — the team’s first lead in nearly 32 minutes — an elated crowd of 8,278 jumped to its feet, hoping for an end to the school’s longest losing streak in 48 years.

It wasn’t meant to be, though, as Johnson answered with a traditional three-point play off an offensive rebound to give the Bulldogs the lead for good despite the pressurized final 60 seconds.

“Everyone was all excited,” Rosburg said. “That’s just the way it is. One possession can change everything. If they don’t get that and we build a lead, then who knows what happens.”

Southern Miss 62, Florida Atlantic 54

Norville Carey had 17 points and 13 rebounds, Chip Armelin scored a game-high 19 points, and Southern Miss (7-17, 2-11 Conference USA) snapped a five-game losing streak by beating Florida Atlantic.

Southern Miss finished the game on a 6-0 run after FAU’s Justin Raffington buried a jumper to pull the Owls within two, 56-54, with 2:30 remaining. Florida Atlantic had two turnovers and went 0-for-5 from the floor after Raffington’s shot.

Matt Bingaya hit a layup with a minute left to give Southern Miss a 58-54 advantage, then added a dunk with 39 seconds to go. Carey iced the game with a pair of free throws with 5 seconds left.

Bingaya finished with 15 points for Southern Miss, which won for just the second time in its last 16 games.

Marquan Botley led FAU (8-15, 1-11) with 18 points, Solomon Poole scored 10, and Raffington had eight points and 11 rebounds.