Mississippi State men’s basketball got one back over its most hated rival on Saturday.
The Bulldogs improved to 12-13 on the year, 4-8 in SEC play, with their best offensive performance of the season against Ole Miss in Oxford, winning 90-78 behind a 32-point performance from guard Josh Hubbard.
MSU’s top scorer shot 12-16 in Oxford, hitting 4-6 from 3-point land.
His scoring on the season ranks 11th nationally with 21.4 points per game, and he’s a known threat with the ball in his hands, but his strong night out at SJB Pavillion was about more than him or his scoring. He dished out six assists on a night when the team as a whole shot 57.9% from the floor. Achor Achor finished with 18 points on 6-8 shooting, and scored each of MSU’s first 11 points of the game as the team came out swinging.
Add in another 18 points off the bench, 12 from Jayden Epps at the two spot and six each from Quincy Ballard and Jamarion Davis-Fleming, with neither missing an attempt, and it made for one of the most complete performances of the year for a Bulldog squad that was hungry for it.
“Without looking at the tape, I mean, 47 and 43,” head coach Chris Jans said after the game, looking at the first and second half scoring totals. “Obviously, a big reason why is, Josh was ultra-efficient. Maybe the most efficient that he’s had since he became a Bulldog. I’m so happy for him. I’m just elated for him.”
On top of the lights-out performance, Hubbard hit a new milestone in his MSU journey, becoming the program’s all-time leader in made 3s. Sitting just outside the top five in all-time scoring, Hubbard continues to etch his name into the history of the program, but perhaps he’ll be happiest as a Mississippian to have hit the new mark against the old rival.
“He’s never had a game like this against Ole Miss, and he’s from the ‘Sip. So, it’s important,” Jans said. “Maybe a little more important to him, and Jamar and Ja’Borri, and those kinds of guys. He doesn’t really get wrapped up in that. He treats this game like he treats every other game, at least outwardly, but I know he’s got to feel pretty good coming up here tonight and playing the way he did.”
In his Monday press conference, Jans expanded on Hubbard’s contributions, and after a day to reflect and look more at the numbers, he focused in again on the efficiency and remarked on his growth as a floor general for the Bulldogs.
“I’m certainly happy for him individually because he had such a monster game and was a big reason why we won the game, but equally important for me was how he did it,” Jans said. “That was by far the most efficient game he’s had, that I can remember, all the way around. He was just really good, and not just with minutes on the floor. His presence in huddles, our shootarounds, I’ve talked about his leadership before and it continues to grow, and he’s just getting more and more comfortable with understanding when and how. In this day and age it’s difficult for players to understand that, to pick your spots to be received well. He’s doing a much better job of that, and he was just terrific on Saturday.”
The Bulldogs may not have NCAA Tournament hopes to strive for that they had planned for at the start of the campaign, but there is still plenty of basketball left to play and an opportunity to make up ground in conference play against a slate of remaining opponents who have similar feelings of disappointment about how the season has gone.
Up next is a visit from Auburn, a team that has lost four straight in conference play. The Tigers (14-11, 5-7 SEC) were beaten 88-75 at No. 21 Arkansas on Saturday, following a pair of home losses to No. 19 Vanderbilt and Alabama.
For the Bulldogs, it’s a chance to string together wins for the first time since they began the new year against Texas and Oklahoma.
“Certainly what we’re trying to do, been trying to do it,” Jans said of adding to the win tally. He pointed to the added bite and intensity on both ends, and what the team has worked on applying to in-game situations, and the glimpse of the team’s ceiling that helped them get the big road win.
“I thought we had more bite to us guarding the ball,” he added. “We used that segment against Tennessee in the second half where we went on a run to have a chance to get back in the game. We never got to that point, but we played with more edge on both ends, and that was the takeaway of, ‘Hey, we’ve got to bottle that up.’ We’re capable of that against really good teams.”
The Bulldogs and Tigers tipoff at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Humphrey Coliseum.
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