Alabama gets another shot at Josh Hubbard after allowing career-high in first meeting

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The first time Alabama played Mississippi State this season, the show was stolen by Bulldog guard Josh Hubbard.

The two teams met for the first time this season a little under a month ago, on Jan. 29. Then-No. 4 Alabama beat then-No. 15 Mississippi State in a thrilling matchup in Starkville, and Hubbard posted a career-high.

Tomorrow night the two teams will face off for the second time this season, the second of three opponents Alabama will get rematches with in the regular season. Naturally, Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats wants to see his team give a better effort in defending Hubbard this time around.

“I would hope that there’s a sense of urgency to not give Hubbard another career high,” Oats said. “Maybe we’ll get somebody else (for a second time) in the SEC Tournament or NCAA Tournament, who knows. 38 is far too many. We’ve got to get anybody that’s matched on him to do a significantly better job than what they did the first time.”

Hubbard’s 38 points scored in the first meeting came on an efficient 50 percent (14-of-28) from the field, including 6-of-15 from beyond the arc and 4-of-4 from the free throw line. He played 36 of the game’s 40 minutes, only leaving for a brief injury scare early in the second half, which he quickly returned from.

While not disclosing specifics, Oats is aware that Alabama will have to make adjustments to try to limit Hubbard this time around, while also knowing that since the Tide won the first meeting, Mississippi State will have adjustments of its own.

“We can’t give him what we gave him the first game,” Oats said. “That obviously didn’t work very well. It’s gonna be some adjustments made, I’m sure they’re gonna make some adjustments. We did win, so we exploited some stuff they did. We’re gonna have to make adjustments to their adjustments, as are they.”

While not allowing Hubbard to have another career night would be ideal, Oats also understands the team can’t overcommit to stopping Hubbard alone, allowing other capable scorers on Mississippi State’s roster to have big games. The Bulldogs have four other players averaging at least eight points per game this season: KeShawn Murphy, Claudell Harris Jr., Riley Kugel and RJ Melendez.

“Are our guys smart enough to make the right personnel adjustments and not let somebody else get off?” Oats said. “You can always make sure somebody doesn’t score. Steph Curry, somebody played a triangle-and-2 and put two guys on him the whole time when he was in college. He didn’t score, but the team got drilled. You can always make sure somebody doesn’t score, but you can’t swing the pendulum that far. You’ve got to make it tougher on him without making it too easy for the rest of the team, they have some other guys that are more than capable of scoring.”

The game between No. 6 Alabama and No. 24 Mississippi State will tip off at 8 p.m. CT on ESPN2.

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