Mississippi State blows out No. 21 Memphis at FedEx Forum

Leading into Saturday’s Top 25 matchup on CBS, Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans wondered if his team would take advantage of the opportunity at hand. Well, it didn’t take long for his squad to give an emphatic answer.

No. 25 Mississippi State (11-1) used an early 16-1 run to grab control as the Bulldogs routed No. 21 Memphis (9-3) 79-66 at the FedEx Forum and the final score wasn’t near indicative of how lopsided the game was. It marked State’s second road win of the season after winning at SMU earlier this year.

It was the first regular-season meeting between the two schools since the 1984-85 season. Memphis will return the trip to Starkville next season.

“We’re at our best when we’re playing off that end (defense) of the floor,” Jans remarked. “I think like most programs, you emphasize it. You score off your defense and you take some pressure off your offense. If you are on the road it takes the crowd out of the game, which is always nice.

“I just think it revs us up. It revs us up and if our motors are going, we have opportunities to turn people over and score. We were 9 of 18 from 3 in the first half and it’s contagious.”

Riley Kugel led a balanced State scoring attack with 19 points, highlighted by a trio of 3 pointers. KeShawn Murphy had 13 points and nine boards for the Bulldogs while Josh Hubbard and Cameron Matthews had 13 and 12 points, respectively. Matthews also had nine rebounds and six assists for the Bulldogs. Claudell Harris also had a solid outing with six points, eight rebounds and a season-high five steals.

For the game, State shot 44% from the field and made 10 of 27 beyond the 3 point arc. The Bulldogs made 7 of 10 at the charity stripe and had a season-high 16 turnovers. State also dominated the boards, 46-32, and had 19 offensive rebounds.

PJ Haggerty paced Memphis with a game-high 24 points while Tyrese Hunter had 19. As a team, the Tigers shot just 36% for the game and made 8 of 27 from 3 point territory. The Tigers got to the foul line often and made 20 of 26 but had 18 turnovers.

“We knew what we were facing,” said Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway. “The discouraging thing was I didn’t think we fought as hard as we can. But (Mississippi State) is a veteran team and we have to be better. Mississippi State is a really good program and a really good team. They had too many things working and were phenomenal today.

“They stack up with anybody because they have scoring, length and size. It was more of them than us. They are very dynamic because they can score and because they are so long, they force you into turnovers. They’re as good as any team we’ve faced so far.”

Leading by 16 at halftime, Mississippi State just played out the game in the second half and were never threatened by the Tigers. The Bulldogs led by as many as 24 points in the final half and won going away.

“We responded,” said Kugel, who was 8 of 13 from the floor. “Everybody was crashing the boards, getting the rebounds and pushing it. That’s how you play basketball and how it starts. It felt good and it always feels good when you got the hot hand. My teammates put their trust in me and I went out there and showed them what I’m capable of doing.”

The game was tied at 5-5 in the opening minutes before the Bulldogs used the 3 ball to explode on a 16-1 run to take control. Hubbard, Harris and Kugel all hit 3 pointers during that spurt and State would lead by as many as 19 in the first half. The Bulldogs eventually settled for a 48-32 halftime advantage.

In the opening half State shot 49% from the field and made 9 of 18 from 3 point range. The Bulldogs made 5 of 6 at the foul line, had eight turnovers in the half and held a 21-19 rebounding edge.

The Tigers shot just 31% in the first half and made 4 of 12 beyond the 3 point arc. The Tigers were 12 of 17 at the charity stripe and had 12 turnovers in the half.

The Bulldogs now have one non-conference game remained before entering a brutal SEC slate in January. But State has shown they are capable of playing with the best on any given night and will enter league play with a lot of confidence.

“Heading into the season we had a few goals,” Matthews noted. “One of our goals was competing for a championship. We feel like we’re one of the better teams in the SEC, as well. So we came out here and proved it.”

But Jans was quick to point out it’s more of a week-by-week and game-by-game deal when SEC play begins.

“Not really thinking about that too much right now,” added Jans. “We had a lot of respect for Coach Hardaway and the way they were playing and the players they have in their program. They’ve got some unbelievable wins and coming off a tough road swing. So we were focused on them and playing in front of their great crowd. We will worry about that (SEC) when we have to.”

Up next

Mississippi State vs. Bethune-Cookman (3-9) on December 30th at Humphrey Coliseum with a 8:00 p.m. tipoff.