Chris Jans reveals his reaction to Josh Hubbard's 35-point first half vs. Auburn

It was a big scoring night in the SEC on Wednesday. Arkansas star Darius Acuff scored 49 points in a double-overtime loss to Alabama, but Mississippi State guard Josh Hubbard might have one-upped him by scoring 35 points in the first half against Auburn.

Hubbard went on to finish with 46 in the game. Most impressively, he did so with zero turnovers.

“We probably need to talk about the points tonight,” said coach Chris Jans, who focused on Hubbard’s turnover numbers after a similar offensive explosion earlier in the year. “You know, I don’t pay (attention), I have no idea, I swear I don’t know where the stats are in terms of in the arena. I know y’all will look at me like, ‘You’ve been here for four years.’ I don’t. I know where the score is, I know where the fouls is. I’ve got an army of people behind me that tell me everything I need.

“So when I go in the locker room at halftime and get the stat sheet, I’m like, ‘He’s got 35?!?’ That was my reaction. I knew obviously he was having a half, but 35 in a half and as clean as it was with just the efficiency and the shots he was making? It was a special half.”

The big half from Hubbard helped put Mississippi State up 49-33 at the half. You’d think the game was in the bag. It was not.

Auburn stormed all the way back to take the lead in the late stages. And Mississippi State had to dig deep.

Jans was worried, at least for a minute, that his team might have blown the advantage Josh Hubbard had helped create. But the team buckled down and bullied its way back to win 91-85.

“Toward the end, I’m not going to lie to you, certainly we’re locked in, but your brain is your brain,” Jans said. “At one point, I’m like, ‘If we waste that half and his performance, it’s going to be a shame.’ And we didn’t. We didn’t. Down seven with 3:44 left, it didn’t look promising with the air out of the Hump, and rightfully so, we had given up a huge lead.

“But couldn’t be prouder of a group of young men that stayed together. Our huddles were really good considering the circumstances, and then we had a lot of kids in the last four minutes of the game make huge plays that helped us regain the lead and win the game.”

The win moved Mississippi State back to .500 on the year at 13-13. The team is just 5-8 in conference play but has now won two straight, including on the road at rival Ole Miss.

Could Josh Hubbard spark a run here to end the season? That remains to be seen. But Wednesday night was special, special stuff.