Mississippi State Men’s Basketball Upsets No. 8 Auburn
The defense has always been the calling card for Mississippi State as they upset No. 8 Auburn 64-58 in a victory at home.
A new starting lineup for the Bulldogs presented a fresh opportunity for head coach Chris Jans. Josh Hubbard, who has been sensational coming off the bench, was now starting in place of Dashawn Davis.
Jans has been keeping Hubbard on the bench because he likes the spark that he provided offensively for Mississippi State (14-6, SEC 3-4) whenever their defense could not create any point on the other end. Against Auburn (16-4 SEC 5-2), it proved to be a smart move by Jans.
While Hubbard found himself in foul trouble in the first half, the rest of the Bulldogs found ways to slow the game down and control the tempo. This is the type of game that usually favors the Bulldogs and at the end of the first half, the score sat at 21-21. The goal for this game was to be grimier and not allow Auburn to win the rebounding battle. State finished the game with 48 to their 30.
The second half started with continual offense from both teams wasn’t seen in the first. Hubbard found his shot, scoring 15 of his 17 points in the second period. Jans mentioned one of the shots that he made in the second half felt like Hubbard was trying to prove a point to himself and coach Jans.
“What I remember most is when he hit a big shot, in the last couple of minutes of the game, and he looked at me like he scored on me, and I’m with him. It was pretty stone cold and made me feel really good inside like he’s not afraid of the big moment. He’s obviously not afraid to take the big shots. He’s been doing it his entire career,” Jans said.
Cameron Matthews was instrumental on the defensive end for the Bulldogs, finishing the game with a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds. He scored eight of his 14 in the first half and he assisted the feeling of getting back to the type of team they were last year. Chase down blocks and not allowing the easy basket to be easy was in his DNA for this game.
Other key performances came from Shakeel Moore and D.J. Jefferies. Moore finished the game with 12 points while Jefferies added 12 rebounds to his total, and each made clutch free throws at the end of the game. They both talked about how aggression was key for them in these must-win types of games.
“Just being hungrier than others and more grimier. You know coach showed us a couple of our clips from last year's games and we were just a bit more grimy on defense and that is what you got to do. You got to out rebound the team and outplay them,” Moore said.
A needed quad-one victory for the Bulldogs as they are on the road for their next game against their most hated rivals in Ole Miss (16-3, SEC 3-3) on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network).
