Josh Hubbard's season-high 34 points helps State hold off Long Island, 87-83

It wasn’t pretty but Mississippi State finally put together its first winning streak of the season on Tuesday evening. Josh Hubbard had a season-high 34 point and Jayden Epps added 20 as the Bulldogs held off Long Island, 87-83, at Humphrey Coliseum.

It marked the first time State has won back to back games this season and the Bulldogs improved to 5-5 overall. Long Island dropped to 6-5 on the season.

“Winning is hard and I am sure every coach will tell you that,” said head coach Chris Jans afterwards. “It is. We had great respect for LIU coming in and the film jumped out at us. They were 6-4 and have really good players. They have big guards and play aggressively. I told them for 48 hours what was walking in the door and they don’t care what league we play in. They came in here trying to win but I thought getting off to a good start was going to be a key for us.”

State held the lead for most of the second half until 3 pointer by Davis gave the Sharks a 75-71 lead to cap off a 7-0 run with 4:55 remaining in regulation. State responded with an 8-0 run, including five straight by Hubbard, and held off the Sharks the rest of the way.

Hubbard was 6 of 13 from 3 point territory and also had a 6 of 6 showing at the foul line along with four assists. Sergej Macura had a career-high 12 points for State while Quincy Ballard had eight points and 10 rebounds.

“After that short injury, the last couple of weeks I have been getting real comfortable with the way we’ve been playing, faster-pace and moving the ball,” Macura noted. “I am starting to feel good and trying to give Coach all the reason to let me play more to get my confidence back and help my team out.”

Since returning from an ankle injury a few weeks ago, Macura has increased his minutes and production, much to the favor of his head coach.

“I was happy for (Macura),” added Jans. “He was more than solid tonight. You guys that have followed us, you know we have struggled at times with who should be in the rotation at some of those spots and he plays a spot we have struggled with at times. He has made a strong case that he needs to be, for the short term at the minimum, a guy that needs more minutes. He is a fun guy to coach and a throwback, just whatever you need Coach. He is super coachable and competes.”

Jamal Fuller led Long Island with 18 points and 10 boards while Malachi Davis had 17. Jomo Goings and Greg Gordon also finished in double digits for the Sharks with 16 and 12 points, respectively.

State shot 47% from the field for the game and made 8 of 20 from 3 point range. The Bulldogs were 23 of 30 at the foul line, had nine turnovers and outrebounded the Sharks, 40-33. Long Island also shot 47% from the floor and made 11 of 30 from the 3 point arc. The Sharks were 8 of 11 at the line and had six turnovers.

The first half featured long runs by both teams and it was State jumping out to a 12-4 lead in the opening minutes. Long Island, however, used an 8-0 run to grab a 21-20 lead following a trio of free throws from Davis. Long Island used a 15-4 run to grab a 38-36 lead late in the half before a Hubbard 3 pointer gave State a 39-38 halftime advantage.

State shot just 41% in the first half but made 5 of 10 beyond the 3 point arc. The Bulldogs were 8 of 9 at the foul line, had four first-half turnovers and out-rebounded Long Island, 19-14, including seven offensive boards.

The Sharks shot 48% in the opening half and made just 5 of 16 from 3 point territory. Long Island was 5 of 5 at the charity stripe and had four turnovers in the first half.

For the second straight game, State was able to get the defensive stops in the closing minutes to secure a win. Now they hope to continue that momentum through the Christmas holidays.

“That’s what we’ve been talking about, just trying to find some momentum,” remarked Epps. “We’ve been inconsistent on and off. So we are trying to find some momentum and trying to bring everyone together. We are trying to build our offense and keep getting better.”

Up Next

The Bulldogs close out the pre-Christmas schedule on Saturday with a 3 p.m. tipoff (ESPN) against Memphis at Humphrey Coliseum. Memphis was 4-5 overall heading into Wednesday night’s home game against Vanderbilt. The Tigers have dropped games to Ole Miss, UNLV, Purdue, Wake Forest and Louisville.