Postgame Notes: MSU vs. No. 25 Texas A&M

TEAM NOTES

Mississippi State emerged with its second top 25 win and its fourth NCAA NET Quad 1 victory, a 69-62 triumph, over No. 25 Texas A&M on Saturday.
The Bulldogs protected their home floor to improve to 19-10 overall and 7-9 in SEC action.
State has won six of its last nine dating back to the 2016-17 season to even the all-time series at 9-9 with the Aggies.
The Bulldogs snapped A&M's SEC-leading six-game winning streak during the month of February.
State commanded the interior and scored 17 of its 23 buckets in the paint. State outscored A&M 34-18 in paint points during the contest.
The Bulldogs capitalized in transition on 16 A&M turnovers en route to 14 of the game's 21 points on the fastbreak.
State collected 12 steals for its 12th outing with 10+ steals. The Bulldogs are 10-2 when securing double-digit steals.
State edged out the Aggies by a 13-12 margin in points off turnovers and a 12-10 advantage in second-chance points.
The Bulldogs sank 8 of their first 10 field goal attempts capped by a Shawn Jones Jr. transition layup from Cameron Matthews to open up a 21-12 lead with 13:13 remaining in the first half.
Texas A&M would battle back courtesy of nine points each from Wade Taylor IV and Andersson Garcia to pull within 30-28 at halftime.
The Aggies would carry the momentum out of the locker room and put together a 16-5 spurt to go ahead 44-35 with 14:09 left.
State would fire back with a 12-2 spurt of its own to regain a 47-46 on a Dashawn Davis midrange jumper with 10:40 remaining.
State's defense held the Aggies without a field goal from the 14:09 mark to the 1:18 mark, a span of 12:51.
The Bulldogs turned defense into offense as Jones Jr. converted a steal into a dunk followed by a Matthews steal to Jeffries for a two-hand slam to make it 57-51 with 3:58 to go.
State sank 7-of-8 from the foul line sparked by six straight from Matthews inside the last 1:39 to tuck away the seven-point win.
As a team, the Bulldogs hit on 23-of-52 from the floor (44.2 percent), 3-of-21 from beyond the three-point line (14.3 percent) and a 20-of-30 clip from the foul line (66.7 percent).
Conversely, Texas A&M was 17-of-43 on its field goal attempts (39.5 percent), was 8-of-22 on its triples (36.4 percent) and 20-of-26 at the charity stripe (76.9 percent).

PLAYER NOTES

Tolu Smith

Provided 17 points, 10 of which came in the second half.
Added six rebounds and two steals to round out his final line.
Extended his streak to 13 straight games in double figures.
Averaging 16.6 points over his last 13 contests.
Amassed multiple steals for the third time this season and 14^th time over his career.
Amassed 10+ points a team-leading 24 times in 2022-23 and in 60 of 80 career games.
Started 79 of his 80 career games at State.

D.J. Jeffries

Contributed nine points, six rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal for a solid all-around performance.
Notched his 20th outing in 2022-23 and 48th time over his career with 5+ rebounds.
Passed out multiple assists for the 17th time this season and 56th occasion over his career.
Started 60 of 63 career games at State.
Was responsible for a team leading +12 in the plus-minus

Cameron Matthews

Came away with 11 points, five boards, four assists and two steals.
Has scored in double figures in four of his last five outings. State is 7-1 this season when Matthews scores in double figures.
Amassed double digit points for the eighth time this season and 11^th time over his career.
Notched his 21st game this season and the 39th occasion during his career with 2+ assists.
Marked the 18th outing in 2022-23 and the 36th time over his career with 5+ rebounds.
Tallied his 16^th game this season and the 35^th occasion in his career with multiple steals.
Matched a career high with seven free throws, on nine attempts from the line.

Dashawn Davis

Notched six points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals
Marked his 15^th game this season and the 28^th occasion in his career with multiple steals.
Passed out multiple assists for the 24^th time in 26 outings this year

Shakeel Moore

Erupted for 14 points, nine of which came in the first half.
Has scored in double digits in four of his past six outings and 11 times this season.\
Passed out multiple assist for the 16^th time this season and the 50^th time in his career.
Sank multiple treys for the 11th time this season and 31st time in his career.
Made 39 of his 41 career starts in Maroon and White.

Bench

Eric Reed Jr. knocked down a three as a part of a five point night.
Will McNair Jr. came away with two blocks and two rebounds. The two rejections match a season high.
Shawn Jones Jr. matched career highs in points and steals with six and two respectively.
Chipped in at least 5 points in five of his last six outings.

Postgame Notes: MSU vs. No. 25 Texas A&M

Players Mentioned

Dashawn Davis

Andersson Garcia

D.J. Jeffries

Shawn Jones Jr.

Cameron Matthews

Will McNair Jr.

Shakeel Moore

Eric Reed Jr.

Tolu Smith III

Mississippi State University Athletics

Postgame Notes: MSU vs. No. 25 Texas A&M

Players Mentioned

Dashawn Davis

Andersson Garcia

D.J. Jeffries

Shawn Jones Jr.

Cameron Matthews

Will McNair Jr.

Shakeel Moore

Eric Reed Jr.

Tolu Smith III

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