STARKVILLE, Miss. - Taking on a powerful Southeastern Conference foe, the UWG men's basketball team fell 95-60 to the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the Wolves' Division I debut on Monday night.

West Georgia (0-1) hung in there with the Bulldogs in the opening half, but eventually the size, depth, and sharp-shooting of Mississippi State (1-0) reigned supreme, outscoring UWG 55-31 in the second half of both teams' opening game of the season.

Things were all Mississippi State early in the game with a 9-0 run extending the Bulldogs' lead to 22-7. But the Wolves would answer with a 12-0 run, fueled by nine straight points from Tamaury Releford to pull back within three on multiple occasions late in the first half.

Leading by 11 at the break, MSU quickly extended the lead to 20 at the 15 minute mark of the second half and led by as much as 40 down the stretch run of the game.

The length of Mississippi State caused trouble for UWG, forcing 20 turnovers that turned into 31 points at the other end.

Releford ended his night with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting off the bench to lead the way while Kolten Griffin also found double digits with 13 points. Shelton Williams-Dryden had 10 rebounds for the Wolves and just missed a double-double in his UWG debut with nine points.

Mississippi State would finish the game 14-of-30 from beyond the arc and were led by All-SEC performer Josh Hubbard who scored a game-high 26.

West Georgia has a quick turnaround as on Wednesday the Wolves make the short trip into the state capitol to take on Georgia Tech. Tip-off from McCamish Pavilion is set for 7:30 p.m. EST.