STARKVILLE – Mississippi State’s SEC slump continued on Wednesday night. The Bulldogs fell to 11-13 on the season in a 73-64 loss to Tennessee at Humphrey Coliseum.
What began as a hopeful performance fueled by star scorer Josh Hubbard turned into another missed opportunity for the Bulldogs, who once again suffered from lengthy dry spells in the first half of action where the visitors were able to make a run.
Hubbard led the team with 31 points, and posted a remarkable 17 points inside the first 10 minutes of the game to get his team off the mark. He started the game a perfect 4-4 shooting, including a pair of three-pointers. He would end up scoring 20 of MSU’s 28 first-half points.
The Vols took advantage whenever Hubbard was off the floor, and even when he was on the court they managed to find avenues to the hoop. They went on a 7-0 run and a 12-0 run, both of which started with Hubbard on the bench for two spells of rest in the first half.
The Vols continued to pull away over the first 10 minutes of the second half, leading by as much as 23 points just before the midway point of the half. The Bulldogs made things interesting with an 18-0 run, getting the student section back on their feet to briefly fuel the flames of hope for an unlikely comeback, but the Vols quickly extinguished those hopes with an 8-0 run to answer.
Tennessee put all doubts to bed with a breakaway alley oop jam for freshman Nate Ament, putting the Vols up by 13 with 1:30 left in the game.
The Bulldogs will go on the road on Saturday to Oxford to face an equally dire Ole Miss team, with hopes of serving up some revenge for the 68-67 home loss to the in-state rivals at The Hump in January.
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