Mississippi State kept its perfect record intact in its first game at the Arizona Tipoff on Thursday night with an 80-58 win over UNLV, but fell 87-77 to Butler the following night thanks to a hot-shooting performance from the Big East Bulldogs.
Against the Rebels, 14 players saw the court for No. 25 MSU (6-1) and all of them scored. KeShawn Murphy led the way with 14 points and 13 rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench, while Josh Hubbard was the only other MSU player in double figures with 11 points.
MSU bullied UNLV (4-3) on the glass, out-rebounding the Rebels 46-29 including a massive 19-4 edge on the offensive boards. That led to a 30-3 margin in second-chance points. State’s bench also outscored that of UNLV 48-13. Cameron Matthews had three steals in just 16 minutes of action.
A night later, MSU stayed close against Butler (6-1) but trailed the entire second half as Butler shot better than 50 percent from the floor and was 12-for-22 from 3-point range. Jahmyl Telford had 24 points and Pierre Brooks added 22, with that duo combining to go 16-for-30 on field goals and 7-for-12 from deep.
Florida transfer Riley Kugel and Hubbard each had 22 points for MSU, while Matthews added 14 and Miami transfer Michael Nwoko chipped in with 11. Kugel and Matthews both fouled out in the final minute as part of MSU’s effort to get a few extra possessions.
Butler out-rebounded MSU 44-33 despite 12 boards for Murphy in 17 minutes off the bench. MSU’s 38-24 edge in the paint — including a 10-0 edge on fast-break points — was not enough to offset Butler’s prowess from long range, and MSU had just nine assists on 26 made field goals.
Down by 10 in the second half, MSU used an 8-0 run to pull within two on Matthews’ three-point play, but Butler soon built its lead back to double digits.
MSU returns to Humphrey Coliseum on Wednesday night to take on Pittsburgh as part of the ACC-SEC Challenge. It will be the first meeting between the teams since a First Four game in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, a 60-59 Panthers victory in Dayton, Ohio.
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