By Ken Cross
Bulldogs point guard Josh Hubbard scored 24 points to lead the Mississippi State into Friday’s SEC Tournament quarterfinals as they overcame LSU, 70-60.
The Bulldogs knew they had to change the script at halftime as they trailed LSU, 29-22, while not scoring from the floor for the last 7:42 of the first half. Hubbard scored 14 points in the second half as he pushed MSU to the win.
LSU had amassed 12 turnovers in that first half, but the Bulldogs were not able to use that to their advantage.
“Yeah, we were struggling,” said MSU head coach Chris Jans, of the first half. “We had seven baskets, seven turnovers. That’s not a good recipe to win games.”
The Bulldogs’ defense made it’s impact in the second half in holding LSU to 30.8 percent from the floor. An immediate 14-2 run saw Shakeel Moore finish that run with a layup while Hubbard scored six of his game-high 24 points.
Mississippi State outscored LSU 48-31 in the second half en route to the 70-60 win.
Trailing 34-28 with 16:40 remaining, power forward Tolu Smith scored on a slam dunk and a pair of free throws to turn a six-point deficit into a 36-34 lead before Mississippi State pushed their lead to 52-43 midway through the second stanza to finish off the win.
Smith didn’t score in the first half, but he joined Hubbard in helping to fashion the
“All of our guys put confidence in each other,” said Hubbard, who has turned into a solid leader as a freshman. “We were all positive. We were prepared for the game.”
The Bulldogs will face SEC Champion No.5 Tennessee on Friday afternoon at 12 CST.