STARKVILLE — Josh Hubbard entered Saturday’s Southeastern Conference opener in a rare shooting slump.

After a 1-for-9 showing from 3-point range Monday night against Bethune-Cookman, Mississippi State’s star sophomore guard was shooting less than 25 percent from deep over his last three games. But after seeing his first two attempts against South Carolina swish through the net, Hubbard had a feeling it would be his day.

He was correct, and the same went for almost all of his teammates. Behind 21 points from Hubbard on 5-for-10 from behind the arc, the No. 17 Bulldogs raced out to a 22-point lead after 13 minutes and never took their foot off the gas in an 85-50 demolition of the Gamecocks at Humphrey Coliseum.

“I felt good warming up,” Hubbard said. “The last few games have been a little frustrating with my (jumper), but my coaching staff and my teammates, they keep me positive and just tell me to keep shooting.”

MSU (13-1, 1-0 SEC) returned to its defense-first identity that carried the Bulldogs to the last two NCAA Tournaments, but this season, head coach Chris Jans’ team has the offense to play complementary basketball. Cameron Matthews and KeShawn Murphy put the clamps down on South Carolina’s best player, Collin Murray-Boyles, holding him to five points on 2-for-9 shooting. In fact, Murray-Boyles finished with more turnovers (six) than points.

The backcourt defense was also strong, with MSU’s guards doing a good job preventing the entry passes to Murray-Boyles, who had 19 points on 9-for-10 shooting in a Gamecocks overtime win in Starkville last March. South Carolina (10-4, 0-1) shot just 29.1% overall and were a mere 2-for-19 from distance.

“I have a lot of respect for (Murray-Boyles) and how he competes and how he goes about his craft, just from scouting and playing against him last year,” Jans said. “That was a big part of the game plan, defend him inside out and try to be as physical as we could with him. They do such a good of getting the ball to him in different spots on the court, all over. It’s hard, but we committed to every chance we had in this game to run another defender at him.”

Hubbard’s early back-to-back 3-pointers jump-started a 13-0 run, and the Gamecocks were still stuck on six points with seven minutes left in the first half. By that point, the Bulldogs had started to go to work inside, forcing 10 first-half turnovers and holding a 17-3 edge in fast-break points for the game.

On a day where starting center Michael Nwoko took just one shot in 12 minutes and struggled with foul trouble, Murphy filled the box score in 25 minutes off the bench. Murphy finished with 12 points, making six of eight field goals, and added eight rebounds and four blocks.

“I feel like I have more to offer,” Murphy said. “I was just able to be there in certain places to help my team out.”

MSU made 12 straight 2-point shots during a stretch lasting roughly 12 minutes and spanning both halves. All but one of those shots was in the paint, where the Bulldogs outscored South Carolina 52-24.

“(Murphy) has been as consistent as anyone we’ve had since the day we reported in June,” Jans said. “He just brings it every single day. He has an unbelievable mental approach, and he just competes all the time. It’s really fun. It’s what every coach wants. Practice can get boring, it can get old, I get all that, but he has not shown any slowing down at all.”

Claudell Harris had another efficient day, scoring 17 points and nine boards on 7-for-10 shooting and 3-for-6 from long range. Riley Kugel was in double figures for the third straight game, adding 12 points, while Matthews was all over the place with five assists, two blocks and three steals. The Gamecocks got 22 points off the bench from Zachary Davis, but he was the lone bright spot for the visitors.

MSU is back in action Tuesday night at Vanderbilt, facing a Commodores team that has already exceeded its win total from a year ago.

“We’re going to have a lot of games to see where we’re at,” Jans said. “We’re going to be playing in awesome environments against unbelievable teams, and when you’re at home and you have a lead, it’s a little bit easier to play with your hair on fire.”