NASHVILLE, Tenn. — It may have simply been a favorable matchup, but Mississippi State’s stay at the Southeastern Conference Tournament started out on the right foot.

The No. 10 seed Bulldogs shook off a sluggish opening sequence and held No. 15 seed LSU without a field goal for more than 10 minutes to end the first half, taking a 20-point lead before the break and defeating the Tigers 91-62 on Wednesday evening.

Josh Hubbard continued his career-long tradition of torching LSU. He entered the game averaging nearly 29 points in three matchups with the Tigers, and he went off for 16 in the first half and 26 overall.

In MSU’s victory over LSU in Starkville on Mar. 1, Hubbard made just two 3-pointers, earning his points mostly on drives to the basket and trips to the free throw line. This game was a different story. Hubbard took nearly every 3-point opportunity he got and nailed open looks and contested shots alike.

The Tigers made seven of their first 10 shots, then were ice cold for the rest of the half, missing 11 in a row to head into the locker room trailing by 20. The Bulldogs (21-11, 8-10 SEC) complemented outside shooting from Hubbard and Claudell Harris with strong play inside against an overmatched LSU frontcourt, with an 18-6 edge in the paint in the first half.

The second half brought some concern in the opening minutes — MSU turned the ball over five times in just over four minutes out of the break as LSU (14-18, 3-15) pulled within 11 points. But Hubbard remained hot from outside, and RJ Melendez, Shawn Jones and Riley Kugel each connected from deep as well as part of a 17-0 run that gave the Bulldogs their largest lead of the game.

Even reserve guard Martavious Russell got in on the action with seven points. MSU’s 15 made 3-pointers were a program record for an SEC Tournament game, and the Bulldogs were 8-for-13 from deep in the second half.

Takeaways

1. Mississippi State needed to win this game and win it comfortably. The Bulldogs entered the postseason losers of four of their last five, and the last two losses — an overtime defeat against Texas and a one-point loss on a missed shot at the buzzer at Arkansas — were heartbreakers. MSU used a run in Nashville last year to reclaim some positive momentum after a disappointing finish to the regular season, and Wednesday’s game was a good start toward that happening again this year. Only in the SEC opener against South Carolina did the Bulldogs defeat a conference opponent by a larger margin this season.

2. This was hardly a perfect performance. MSU did not start either half well, and Melendez, Kugel and Michael Nwoko all dealt with foul trouble at various points. But sometimes in the postseason, the star player has to taken on an even larger share of the scoring than usual, and Hubbard rose to the occasion, finishing 6-for-12 from behind the arc. No other Bulldog cracked double figures.

3. Missouri tomorrow night will be a much greater challenge. MSU will face No. 7 seed Missouri in the second round, and while Mizzou also ended the regular season losing four of five, Missouri defeated the Bulldogs by 27 points in Starkville on the first of February. While LSU is the second-worst 3-point shooting team in the SEC and was 5-for-26 Wednesday, Mizzou is the second best, and MSU has struggled to defend the perimeter for most of the year.