Josh Hubbard helps Mississippi State boost March Madness hopes in SEC Tournament win vs LSU
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Mississippi State basketball solidified its NCAA Tournament hopes Thursday, according to ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi.
MSU, which entered the second round of the SEC Tournament among the last four teams projected to earn a bye in Lunardi's latest update, defeated LSU 70-60. In Lunardi's eyes, that was all Mississippi State needed to do at Bridgestone Arena to clinch a spot in March Madness.
The Bulldogs (20-12) outscored the Tigers 48-31 in the second half, fueled by a balanced scoring attack. After shooting 29.2% from the field and scoring only 22 points in the first half, Mississippi State had seven players score in the second.
Freshman guard Josh Hubbard paced MSU with 24 points on 6-of-16 shooting. In the second half he was 5-of-10 from the field and surpassed the 20-point mark for a sixth straight game.
LSU (17-15) was limited to 38% shooting while turning it over 18 times.
The Bulldogs will face No. 1-seeded Tennessee on Friday (noon, ESPN).
Mississippi State, Tolu Smith have abysmal offensive first half
The Bulldogs missed 13 of their final 15 field goal attempts in the first half – including their last six − to take a 29-22 deficit into the locker room. Outside of five free throws from Hubbard, Mississippi State struggled to score in the final 7:42. MSU turned 12 first-half turnovers from LSU into only seven points.
As has been the case across the last three games, MSU’s early woes can be tied to All-SEC forward Tolu Smith. He failed to score in the first half and missed on all three attempts from the field. Smith has scored two first-half points in the previous three games.
Behind him, forward Jimmy Bell Jr. also didn’t score in the first half while attempting only two shots. Hubbard, who scored 32 in the Bulldogs’ win against the Tigers on Feb. 24, scored 10 first-half points Thursday but it came on 1-of-6 shooting from the field.
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What's next on Mississippi State's schedule?
MSU will face SEC regular-season champion Tennessee on Friday. The Bulldogs got perhaps their biggest win of the season on Jan. 10 when they beat the Vols, 77-72, at Humphrey Coliseum.
In that contest, Hubbard had 25 points off the bench.
Stefan Krajisnik is the Mississippi State beat writer for the Clarion Ledger. Contact him at skrajisnik@gannett.com or follow him on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, @skrajisnik3.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi State tops LSU in SEC Tournament, boosts March Madness hopes
