STARKVILLE – Mississippi State men’s basketball produced one for the history books on Wednesday against Auburn, taking down the Tigers 91-85 behind a remarkable 46-point performance from Josh Hubbard.
Emotions were already high in the stands with the return of former MSU player KeShawn Murphy, and the intensity followed onto the court soon after tipoff.
Hubbard came out firing, and hitting, for MSU with 13 of the team’s 18 points to take a big early lead. He took some contact for his effort, but made the Tigers pay with four straight makes, including three makes from beyond the arc to jump out in front 18-6.
The Tigers were able to slow down the pace of the game a bit in the middle of the first half. About three minutes passed between a three-pointer from Ja’Borri McGhee and Hubbard’s next bucket after coming off a short break on the bench, but they didn’t let the Tigers close the gap too much. A 9-0 run for Auburn got a swift response from Hubbard, who added another eight points in quick succession to make it 29-20 going into the next media timeout.
During that stretch, KeShawn Murphy took a foul in transition from Shawn Jones Jr., who opted to take one for the team rather than see the former Bulldog throw one down in front of the student section.
It was a hostile reception from the start for Murphy, who got the cold shoulder from teamamtes before tipoff as well. He saw a missed shot in warmups roll to half court, where it was picked up by Hubbard, dribbled, and dropped without ever looking over at Murphy. The Auburn forward could only laugh with an official who had witnessed it, but it was a preview of what was to come from State’s top scorer.
Hubbard’s three-point shooting wasn’t just remarkable, it was record-setting. He finished 9-12 from beyond the arc in the first half, surpassing a single-game record tally of eight held previously by Winsome Frazier and Lamar Peters in the MSU record books. He would end the half with 35 points on 13-19 shooting as MSU went into the break with a 49-33 lead.
The contest was far from over, and the Tigers made a push early in the second half to make up ground. Tahaad Pettiford and Keyshawn Hall hit a pair of treys each in the opening minutes of the second half. Within four minutes, the deficit was down to 11, with MSU hitting just two shots from the floor before the first media timeout.
By the 12-minute mark of the second half, Auburn had all but erased MSU’s advantage and took its first lead of the game at the 8:50 mark. Hubbard was guarded out of the game plan for most of the second half, double-teamed and cornered whenever he got the ball, and his only points in the first 19 minutes of the second half came from the free-throw line.
The rest of the team had to step up offensively in the second half, and without the scoring of Jayden Epps, Achor Achor and Quincy Balled the Tigers might have pulled away themselves before the final minutes.
The Tigers did pull away with a 9-0 run over a minute and a half after the five-minute mark, taking an 80-73 lead and forcing MSU into a desperate situation after leading by as much as 18 in the game.
Epps and Achor got quick buckets to cut the deficit to three, but Auburn kept grabbing boards to create second-chance points, and Epps followed up with a trey after the Tigers hit from the foul line. Seconds later, Hubbard tied the game at 82 heading into the final minute, and then hit a corner three to take an 85-83 lead.
A huge block from Achor on the next possession was followed by another huge block from Jamarion Davis-Fleming with 10 seconds remaining, and the Tigers were forced to foul to get the ball back. Ja’Borri McGhee and Shawn Jones Jr. both hit from the line to extend the lead to six and put the win away.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 30 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 30 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
