Mississippi State stays inside top 25 rankings after split week of action
Following a split week of basketball action, Mississippi State has fallen out of one top 25 poll and stayed in another.
The Bulldogs dropped out of the USA Today Coaches Poll but dropped one spot to No. 25 in the Associated Press poll this week. State has now been ranked inside the AP poll for 11-straight weeks – the longest such streak in the top 25 since 2018-19. It also the latest that the Bulldogs have been ranked in the poll since the final poll in 2003-04.
The drop in the polls the last two weeks was a result of a 93-87 defeat to unranked Oklahoma on February 22 and then a 111-73 loss to No. 7 Alabama last Tuesday.
State did manage to get back on track last week after consecutive losses and the Bulldogs beat LSU 81-69. State outscored the Tigers 46-32 in the second half after falling behind by as much as eight points in the first 20 minutes.
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Josh Hubbard delivered 30 points for the second time this season as the sophomore drilled 9-of-18 shots including 10-of-11 makes from the line. State also got double digits from Riley Kugel as he poured in 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
The win earned Chris Jans 20 victories in the regular season for the third-straight season and got the Bulldogs to 20-9 and 8-8 in SEC play. Jans is the first coach in MSU history to win 20 or more games in his first three years and he’s informally secured an NCAA Tournament berth for the third time as well – joining Richard Williams (3) and Rick Stansbury (6) among coaches in the maroon and white that have been to the Big Dance three times or more.
The Bulldogs now try to climb back up the rankings with a strong finish to the regular season as they host Texas on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. State will close out the schedule by visiting Arkansas on Saturday at 11 a.m. Both games are set for SEC Network broadcasts.
