Mississippi State basketball cruises by Nicholls State as KeShawn Murphy returns
STARKVILLE — Mississippi State basketball continued its perfect start to the season Friday with a 74-61 win against Nicholls State at Humphrey Coliseum.
The Bulldogs (6-0) again provided a balanced attack with 11 players scoring. Freshman guard Josh Hubbard led the way with 15 points.
No. 25 MSU got off to a hot start, highlighted by a double-digit lead within nine minutes. Nicholls (3-4) trimmed the lead to five before the Bulldogs' late run in the opening half gave them a 12-point edge at the break.
Despite shooting just 22% from 3-point range, MSU was able to build a lead as large as 23 in the second half.
Mississippi State is still without All-SEC forward Tolu Smith, who isn’t expected back until SEC play, according to coach Chris Jans. However, Forward KeShawn Murphy was back for the first time since an offseason foot injury.
In the first half, Murphy played just three minutes and missed a pair of free throws. In the second, he played eight minutes and scored six points.
“He didn’t have a restriction or anything like that, but that was kind of what we were hoping for to get his feet wet," Jans said postgame. "Certainly, had some good, some bad, like most of our guys do when they get in the game. Hopefully that’ll give him some confidence.”
Mississippi State returns to action Tuesday (6 p.m., ACC Network) for a game at Georgia Tech (2-2) as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge.
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Mississippi State vs. Nicholls State start time
DATE: Nov. 24
TIME: 1 p.m.
Mississippi State basketball score updates vs. Nicholls State
Mississippi State basketball schedule 2023
Nov. 28: at Georgia Tech (6 p.m.)
Dec. 3: vs. Southern (3 p.m.)
Dec. 9: Tulane (10:30 a.m.) in Atlanta
Dec. 13: vs. Murray State (6:30 p.m.)
Dec. 17: North Texas (3 p.m.) in Tupelo
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This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi State basketball beats Nicholls State, KeShawn Murphy returns
