No. 17 Mississippi State embarrasses South Carolina in SEC opener

Mississippi State has already made several statements this season on the basketball court. The Bulldogs made another loud statement on Saturday in their SEC opener against South Carolina.

Josh Hubbard had 21 points and Claudell Harris added 17 points and nine rebounds to lead No. 17 Mississippi State to a dominating 85-50 win over South Carolina at Humphrey Coliseum. In the SEC opener for both teams, the Bulldogs held the Gamecocks to just 18 points in the first half, the lowest point total allowed by the Bulldogs in SEC play under head coach Chris Jans.

“I think it was important to set the standard of Bulldog Basketball and also where we would like to be,” said KeShawn Murphy. “Us coming out punching hard and setting the record straight was a good thing.”

The 35-point margin of victory was also State’s largest in an SEC opener since blowing out Auburn in the SEC opener during the 2004-05 season. It was also State’s largest margin of victory ever against a South Carolina squad.

From start to finish, it was a whipping not often seen inside SEC play. But State was in a different mindset on Saturday, which has started to become the norm this season.

“I think it’s just our mindset,” noted Hubbard, who was 5 of 10 beyond the arc. “We know what is at stake and we all want to win. So I think that just comes down to us sacrificing and doing what it takes to win. It all starts with (Chris) Jans’ gameplan and we all believe in it. When we have that connectiveness and that toughness, it gets on the floor.”

Riley Kugel also had 12 points for Mississippi State (13-1) while Murphy had 12 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots. Zachary Davis led South Carolina (10-4) with 22 points while Collin Murray-Boyles was held to five points on 2 of 9 shooting from the field.

A year ago, Murray-Boyles helped lead South Carolina to a season sweep of State, including a 16-point, nine-rebound performance in the Gamecocks’ overtime win at State to conclude last year’s regular season.

“I love his game and got a lot of respect for him and how he competes and goes about his craft,” head coach Chris Jans said of Murray-Boyles. “From scouting him and playing against him, he had some big, big games versus us. He was a big part of the gameplan, trying to defend him inside out.

“Just trying to be as physical as we could with them. They do such a good job of getting the ball to him in spots all over the court – post, mid-post, elbow area. It’s hard but we just committed to every chance that we had to run another defender at him. That was our philosophy and our kids did a good job.”

For the game, South Carolina shot just 29% and made just 2 of 19 from 3 point territory. The Gamecocks also had 14 turnovers and made 16 of 23 at the foul line. Mississippi State shot 56% from the field and outrebounded the Gamecocks, 40-32.

Mississippi State opened the game on a 15-2 run and never looked back. The Bulldogs also closed the half on a 10-0 run and led 43-18 at halftime.

South Carolina was held to 23% shooting in the first half and made just 2 of 14 beyond the arc. The Gamecocks were 4 of 6 at the line and had 10 turnovers in the first half. Mississippi State shot 52% in the first half and made 3 of 14 from 3 point range. The Bulldogs had just three turnovers in the half and had a 21-18 rebounding advantage.

State continued to keep a nice cushion for the entire second half and led by as many 37 points in the second half. And a lot of action, offensively, was jumpstarted on the defensive end.

“We had that lull to start the second half and then kind of picked it back up because of our defense,” Jans recalled. “It was the same thing to close the first half. When we are at our best, we are very active on the ball, are handsy and they’re all wired and bought in. Hopefully this will make them feel good about what we’ve been trying to preach to them.”

Up next

Mississippi State at Vanderbilt 8 p.m. tipoff (ESPNU) on Tuesday. The Bulldogs hit the road for the first time in the SEC and the Commodores are off to a 12-1 start heading into their SEC opener at LSU on Saturday.