Second half turnaround powers Bulldogs to SEC Tournament win over LSU, 70-60
With Mississippi State’s basketball season potentially on the line in the second round of the SEC Tournament, the Bulldogs had an uninspiring first half.
Chris Jans’ team fell behind by seven points at the half but Jans challenged his team to fight and they responded.
The Bulldogs came out in the final 20 minutes and outscored the LSU Tigers 48-31 behind a 24-point effort from freshman Josh Hubbard. It led to State all but securing an NCAA Tournament berth with a 70-60 win.
“I’ve got to give our guys a lot of credit – they stuck together,” Jans said. “We’ve been in this situation recently and we haven’t come out of the gates and took care of business. We made some runs, but we were never able to overtake them and get the upper hand. (Thursday) we were able to do that.”
A tale of two halves
After one of the worst halves of the season, the Bulldogs came alive in the second 20 minutes.
State shot just 29% in the first half and made just 1-of-10 3-point shots. They were outrebounded 23-13 and Tolu Smith had zero points on 0-of-4 shooting with one rebound as the Bulldogs fell behind 29-22.
A different energy came in the second half for State. The Bulldogs scored the first six points and would get a lead at 12:42 left at 35-34. LSU wouldn’t get the lead back from there.
The Bulldogs (20-12) did their work without first-team All-SEC center Smith playing a great game. The senior had eight points and 13 rebounds but was just 2-of-9 from the field and had all eight of his points in the second half.
Dashawn Davis finished with 12 points on 4-of-7 with four steal. DJ Jeffries had eight points and 11 rebounds.
“We just knew that we needed to pick up the energy and intensity defensively and the game would unfold the way that we wanted it to,” Davis said. “I feel like our defense was revved up enough (in the first half) so we were stagnant on offense. Usually, our defense translates to our offense.”
Hubbard was the catalyst again for the Bulldogs as he had 24 points on 6-of-16 shooting and 9-of-10 from the free throw line. He started the game 1-of-9 from the field and made 5-of-7 to close.
State shot 23-of-55 (42%) after making just 29% of its shots in the first half. The Bulldogs were 6-of-21 from 3-point range and tied the rebounds at 36 after being outrebounded by 10 at the half. MSU held LSU to 19-of-50 (38%) and forced 18 turnovers.
Up Next
That win was the sixth-straight for MSU against LSU in the NCAA Tournament and it was the seventh-straight SEC Tournament in which the Bulldogs have won a game. It earns State a matchup with the SEC Champions of Tennessee at Noon on Friday at Noon as MSU attempts to make the semifinals for the first time since 2010.
MSU owns a win against the Volunteers already this year but Jans wasn’t concerned with the game right away.
“I have not thought one bit about it,” Jans said of the matchup. “I’m going to do all of the media responsibilities, see my family and then it will be a tough, long night of preparing for the Tennessee Volunteers.”
