STARKVILLE — Once the calendar turns to March, it doesn’t matter how pretty it looks.
Coming off back-to-back road losses in which Mississippi State could not overcome poor defense, the No. 24 Bulldogs trailed LSU by eight points early on Saturday against the worst opponent they have faced in more than a month. But MSU settled down and made it a close game by halftime, then controlled the game in the second half and earned an 81-69 victory at Humphrey Coliseum.
The Tigers have to be sick of Josh Hubbard by now — in three games against LSU, the star sophomore guard has averaged nearly 29 points. The Bulldogs (20-9, 8-8 Southeastern Conference) needed their best player to carry them Saturday, and he delivered with a huge second half, finishing with 30 points despite just two made 3-pointers.
“Just being a complete player, that’s what I worked on in the offseason,” Hubbard said. “Getting downhill, being aggressive, putting some pressure on the defense.”
Hubbard certainly did not shy away from the 3-ball. He attempted 10 of them, drawing a foul on one — a signature skill of his. But he had much more success attacking the basket, blowing by defenders and hitting the occasional midrange jumper. He completed an old-fashioned 3-point play to tie the game early in the second half, then gave his team the lead for good on his first traditional 3-pointer of the day.
All that production came after his day got off to an inauspicious start. Hubbard was whistled for a flagrant foul less than two minutes into the game after a tussle with the Tigers’ Curtis Givens III. The play was initially ruled a foul on Givens before the officials went to the monitor and overturned the call.
“The ref said it would have been clean if I just didn’t swipe down,” Hubbard said. “Personally, I don’t agree with it, but I just have to move on and go to the next play. It was one of those calls you just have to move on from.”
MSU’s perimeter defensive woes surfaced again early Saturday, and former Bulldog Cam Carter was the beneficiary. Carter played at MSU in the 2021-22 season, then transferred to Kansas State for two years before landing at LSU. He came out on fire in his return to Starkville, nailing three 3-pointers in the first five minutes and finishing with 18 first-half points and 23 overall to lead the Tigers (14-15, 3-13).
The Bulldogs made the right adjustments, though, and kept Carter and most of his teammates quiet the rest of the way. Only one other Tiger, Daimion Collins, cracked double digits in scoring.
“We knew that potential was there because of him being here, and who wouldn’t want to come back to an old stomping ground of yours and try to get buckets. He was unbelievable the first 20 minutes. Hats off to him for the way he played,” MSU head coach Chris Jans said. “We shored that up, and (there were) a couple other things in their zoom offense that we tried to change. As the game progressed there in the second half, we started switching more on ball screens.”
After missing their first seven 3-point attempts covering almost the whole first half, the Bulldogs broke the ice when Riley Kugel dribbled to an empty spot up top and knocked one down. Kugel hit again in the final minute of the half, trimming the MSU deficit at the break to two.
Coming off three straight poor shooting performances, Kugel had 12 points Saturday on 5-for-6 shooting and 2-for-3 from behind the arc. He backed down defenders in the post for a pair of buckets in the second half, then capped his day with a fast-break dunk off a Cameron Matthews steal.
“It was a welcome sight. Since he’s been inserted into the starting lineup, I don’t think from a raw data perspective that he’s been great,” Jans said. “I like when he showed his physicality a couple times around the basket and backed (defenders) down. It was a man’s game on a couple of those possessions for him. Hopefully that’s something he can continue.”
Reserve guard Shawn Jones Jr. was also big defensively, with two early steals and a pair of blocks later in the game. He made both field goals he attempted as well with a late first-half 3-pointer and an early second-half dunk, helping the Bulldogs shoot 64% in the second half and 57% for the game.
MSU plays its final home game of the season Tuesday night against Texas.
“It was as big a game as we’ve had all year long,” Jans said. “I put some added pressure on them because I wanted them to feel that way. I wanted them to feel like it was a must-win, because I felt like it was. For a number of different reasons, NET (rankings) being one. I wanted to see how they’d act in that pressurized situation, hoping that we’re in those types of games here shortly.”
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