After giving up the first 11 points in Sunday’s Basketball Hall of Fame Classic championship game to Northwestern, Mississippi State never panicked.
Instead of relying on their veterans, the Bulldogs got 29 points from freshman Josh Hubbard to lead them to a 66-57 victory over the Wildcats in Uncasville, Conn. Hubbard, who was initially committed to Ole Miss but flipped to MSU after the Rebels made a coaching change, made nine of 14 field goal attempts and went 4-for-8 from 3-point range as well as a perfect 7-for-7 at the free throw line.
Defensively, MSU (5-0) held Northwestern star point guard Boo Buie to nine points on 4-for-14 shooting, by far his lowest output of the season. The Bulldogs took their first lead of the game just under six minutes into the second half, but did not go ahead for good until a Cameron Matthews jumper with less than seven minutes remaining. That basket kicked off a 17-3 MSU run to hand the Wildcats (4-1) their first loss of the year.
Dashawn Davis knocked down three of his four 3-point attempts for an 11-point showing, and D.J. Jeffries pulled down 10 rebounds. But it was Hubbard who stole the show in a game he did not even start. Hubbard scored eight points in the final three minutes of the first half to help trim a nine-point Northwestern lead down to two at the break.
The previous day, the Bulldogs took control late in the first half and pulled away in the second half for a 76-64 win over Washington State (3-1). MSU’s scoring in that one was much more balanced — Hubbard and Matthews led the way with 13 points each, Davis added 12 and Jimmy Bell chipped in with 11. Matthews, Davis and Bell also had three steals apiece.
Thanks mostly to Hubbard, the Bulldogs’ bench outscored those of the Cougars and Wildcats by a combined 75-13 in the two games. MSU returns to Humphrey Coliseum on Friday to host Nicholls.
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