STARKVILLE — Josh Hubbard’s spectacular freshman season came without the burden of expectations. As a sophomore, Mississippi State’s small but springy guard is sneaking up on nobody.
On the surface, Hubbard’s numbers make it look like he is experiencing the dreaded “sophomore slump.” Over his last three games, Hubbard is 6-for-26 from 3-point range, and he was trying to force the issue at times last Saturday against Kentucky with the Bulldogs chasing the game late. He is double-teamed nearly every time he gets the ball now that defenses know how lethal he can be from anywhere on the floor.
“People still circle his name in red pen every single time,” MSU head coach Chris Jans said. “He’s getting the best defenders in a league full of high-level athletes and defenders and coaches and game planning. With more and more games under his belt, people understand where sweet spots are and (are) trying to make it as difficult as they can on him.”
But looking just a bit deeper, Hubbard has expanded his game and is more than just an elite 3-point shooter. Although he is still not a true point guard even at 5 feet, 11 inches, Hubbard’s assist numbers have nearly doubled from last season to this one. His relatively small size makes it difficult for defenders to take the ball from him, and he leads the Southeastern Conference and is fourth nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio.
“With his improved vision and progression reads as a ball-handler, we’re asking him to do more that way, and that’s been a positive,” Jans said. “Teams are game-planning for him, and when he comes off the ball screen, there are usually two (defenders) on the ball for an extended period of time. That’s not always the case with the rest of our guys, so he has a little more pressure on him, which may be one of the reasons why his assists are up.”
Hubbard has also improved considerably on defense, especially during a stretch with seven steals in four games from late November through mid-December. Although he has slowed down offensively since going 18-for-30 from deep over the first four games of the year, there would be no better time to get his groove back than Saturday against rival Ole Miss — the program he originally signed with before the Rebels fired Kermit Davis as their head coach.
“I don’t think I’ve ever believed in a player more than him in my entire career, and I’ve coached some great players,” Jans said. “My confidence in that young man is through the roof. I can’t speak for them, but I’d imagine our staff and our locker room feels the same way because of what’s inside Josh and how he goes about his business.”
Scouting Ole Miss
Saturday’s game at Humphrey Coliseum (5 p.m., ESPN2) will be a historic one in the Magnolia State rivalry — the No. 15 Bulldogs (14-3, 2-2 SEC) and No. 21 Rebels (15-2, 4-0) have never played each other with both teams ranked in the AP Top 25. The teams split their two matchups last year, with each winning on its home floor.
Ole Miss is coming off its first road win over a top-five team in program history, a 74-64 victory at No. 4 Alabama on Tuesday night that put the Rebels atop the SEC standings along with Auburn. Memphis, a team MSU beat on the road on Dec. 21, did defeat Ole Miss by 17 points at FedExForum a week later.
“They’re a much better defensive team this year than they were last year,” Jans said. “They’re more physical. They play a unique style in that for the most part, they do a lot of switching on the ball and off the ball with all the positions. They have so many pieces on the floor who are similar in size, and they have a lot of confidence in their guards to fight the bigs and their bigs to keep the guards in check.”
The Rebels take care of the ball better than anyone else in the SEC, committing just 9.1 turnovers per game, and only Tennessee allows fewer points. Ole Miss takes the ball away better than most teams as well, forcing 16 turnovers per game. Alabama turned the ball over 21 times in the Rebels’ upset win earlier this week in Tuscaloosa.
Every Ole Miss starter is a capable 3-point shooter, though Virginia Tech transfer Sean Pedulla leads the way on both offense and defense with 13.9 points and 2.4 steals per contest. Jaylen Murray, Matthew Murrell and sixth man Jaemyn Brakefield are back from last season, while Malik Dia transferred in from Belmont to fill out the middle.
“They’re a little old school,” Jans said. “They run more of the motion offense that you don’t see very often anymore. South Carolina does some of it too, in our league, but you see more spread out, dribble-drive ball screens, things that are more in vogue. Another area where you have to tweak what you do going into a game like this because of how they play on both ends of the floor.”
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 33 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 33 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
