Josh Hubbard shines in SEC home debut
Josh Hubbard finished with a team-high 25 points in his home conference debut against the number five ranked Tennessee Volunteers.
Scoring is nothing new for Hubbard. He scored the most points in Mississippi High School basketball history, after all. Wednesday night was special, though. Most freshman would take a step back in their first conference game. Hubbard did the opposite.
“The guys have learned to trust him,” said head coach Chris Jans of Hubbard after the team’s 77-72 victory. “They understand that he’s a weapon for us, and when a kid can come in like that and score in bunches, it can create some issues. I think our kids deserve credit for not having those issues, and realizing that he can make everybody better…he gets in those zones, if you will, and he’s a tough guard.”
No longer a secret
When Hubbard flipped from Ole Miss to Mississippi State last recruiting cycle after Kermit Davis and the Rebels parted ways, he provided a shot in the arm to MSU’s recruiting that it desperately needed. Now, fast forward months later, and the Madison, Mississippi, native is having one of the most impressive freshman seasons not just in the SEC, but across the country.
He’s no longer a secret weapon – he’s a bonafide threat. Just as Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes.
“He’s a good player,” said Barnes of Hubbard after the Mississippi State loss. “He can raise up, he’s got a nice jump shot, and we were trying to double team him to get it out of his hands, but he does a really good job, and we did okay with that…(players like Hubbard) are going to make some shots, and he’s a good enough player obviously to do that.”
Around the block
This isn’t the first time Hubbard has gone off. He scored 29 against Northwestern earlier this season, but the narratives around him being able to keep that scoring going when the Bulldogs entered SEC play should all be dashed after Wednesday’s performance.
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In just 19 trips around the sun, Hubbard has played plenty of hoops, and its affected his demeanor more than anything else. Jans said of the freshman point guard, “he’s never too high, never too low.”
That doesn’t mean he didn’t feel the excitement in the air inside of Humphrey Coliseum on Wednesday, though.
“It was unbelievable,” said Hubbard of how he felt during his 25-point performance. “That was my first time to feel the SEC atmosphere, but I couldn’t have done it without the team, staying positive through adversity.”
Hubbard and the Bulldogs will face their next opponent in the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday, Jan. 13, at 7:30 p.m. That game will air on the SEC Network.
