Postgame Notes: State vs. No. 8 Auburn

TEAM NOTES

Mississippi State protected its home floor with a 64-58 bounce back victory over No. 8 Auburn to improve to 14-6 overall and 3-4 in SEC play.
The Bulldogs captured their second win over an Associated Press Top 10 opponent, the first time State has accomplished the feat since 2001-02. The Maroon and White defeated No. 5 Tennessee, 77-72, earlier this season.
State's suffocating defense limited the Tigers high-octane attack to season-lows in points (58), field goals made (19), field goal percentage (33.9) and rebounds (30).
State is in the midst of four consecutive NCAA NET Quad 1 games for the second time on the young conference season. The Bulldogs have played six of their first seven league games and are slated to be the only school in the country to play eight of their first nine conference outings as NCAA NET Quad 1 opportunities.
The tightly contested affair featured eight ties and five lead changes as neither team led by more than six points throughout the contest.
State and Auburn played to a 21-21 draw in the first 20 minutes before the Bulldogs ripped off 12 of the opening 18 points of the second half to go ahead 33-27 with 14:36 to go.
The Tigers would chip away and take a brief 46-45 edge with 7:51 remaining. However, State fired back with consecutive Tolu Smith III buckets coupled with a Cameron Matthews free throw to regain a 50-46 advantage with 4:44 left.
Auburn would creep back within a point on two separate occasions, the latest at 55-54 at the 2:52 mark, before Josh Hubbard drained a late shot clock trey on the left wing to stretch State's lead back to 58-54 with 1:37 to go.
On the defensive end, the Bulldogs would force Auburn to misfire on 5 of its last 6 shot attempts to close out the 6-point triumph.
State faced a ranked Auburn squad for the fourth time in the last five meetings going back to the 2019-20 season. The Bulldogs ended a five-game skid to the Tigers.
Keys to the State victory were a dominant 45-30 rebounding advantage fueled by 14 offensive boards. The Bulldogs have won the rebounding battle in 16 of 20 games.
State earned a double-digit rebounding advantage in six games this season and on 16 overall occasions under Coach Jans over the last two seasons.
The Bulldogs are 13-3 this season and 30-7 over the last two seasons under Coach Jans when out-rebounding their opponent.
State dialed up 12 of the game's 15 points courtesy of second-chance opportunities. The Bulldogs also scored 17 of their 25 baskets on the interior en route to a decisive 34-20 edge in paint points.
The Maroon and White improved to 12-1 this season and 18-4 over the last two seasons under Coach Jans during day games.
State moved to 20-6 over the last two seasons under Coach Jans at Humphrey Coliseum. He holds an 87-17 home record during his eight-year career at the NCAA Division I level.
State improved to 14-4 this season and 33-10 over the last two seasons when scoring 60 or more points. Conversely, the Maroon and White are 6-0 this season and 20-2 over the last two seasons when holding their opponents to less than 60 points.
In 108 halves over two seasons with Coach Jans at the helm, State has allowed 30 points or fewer 55 occasions (50.9 percent) and limited the opposition to under a 35 percent shooting clip 34 times (31.5 percent).
State drained 25-of-57 from the floor (43.9 percent), sank 5-of-21 from three-point territory (23.8 percent) and hit on 9-of-18 at the charity stripe (50.0 percent).
Conversely, Auburn turned in a 19-for-56 shooting effort (33.9 percent), was 6-for-24 on its three-pointers (25.0 percent) and produced a 14-for-16 clip from the free throw line (87.5 percent).

PLAYER NOTES

Cameron Matthews

Started 53 of the team's 54 games over the last two seasons.
Stuffed the stats sheet with 14 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks.
Secured his 2nd double-double of 2023-24 and 3rd of his career.
Marked his 9th game of the season in double figures with 17 of his 20 games with 10+ points over the last two seasons.
MSU improves to 7-2 this season and 16-4 overall when Matthews scores in double figures.
Grabbed 10+ rebounds for the 4th outing in 2023-24 and 10th career outing.
The 14 points equals his performances against Tulane (12/09/23) and South Dakota (11/17/22) for the 4th-highest scoring outing of his career.
Matthews' 11 rebounds gives him 540 for his career and moves him into 33rd-place on the program's all-time rebounds list passing Barry Stewart (2007-08-09-10) during today's contest.
Acquired multiple blocks for the 2nd time this season and the 11th time of his career.
Matthews' lone steal moves him into an 8th-place tie with Timmy Bowers (2001-02-03-04) on the program's all-time list and gives him 161 for his career.
38 of 56 games of 2+ assists and 37 of 55 games of 5+ rebounds have come during the last two seasons.

Josh Hubbard

Made his first start wearing the Maroon and White.
Collected a team-leading 17 points and has produced double figures in 17 of 20 games this season.
Amassed 298 total points which is 5th-most for a freshman in program history through 20 games and the most since Rickey Brown (1976-77).
Knocked down multiple treys for the 17th time and drained 56 of his 95 field goals from beyond the arc (58.9 percent) this season.

Shakeel Moore

Made 56 of his 58 career starts while at State and has started the team's last 12 games.
Secured 12 points and 2 assists.
Registered his 7th outing of the season with 10+ points.
Posted 34 of his 39 games of double figures have come at State.
The Bulldogs are 5-2 this season, while Mississippi State and North Carolina State are 27-12 when Moore scores 10+ points.
Finished with a team-best +13 plus/minus ratio during his time on the floor.

Tolu Smith III

Started in 90 of his 93 career games at State.
Amassed 9 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 assists.
Had his streak of 25 straight games in double figures come to a close.
Equaled a season's best with 3 assists and tallied 34th career effort with multiple assists.
The 3 steals were a season-high and marked the 16th time of his career with multiple steals.

D.J. Jeffries

Started 85 of 88 career games at State.
Managed 5 points, a team-leading 12 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal.
Matched a season-high with 12 rebounds which marks 3rd game of 2023-24 and 10th career outing with double-digit rebounds.
Distributed multiple assists in 11 outings this season and in 70 career outings.

Bench

Shawn Jones Jr. compiled 5 points, 3 rebounds and an assist.
Dashawn Davis tacked on 2 point and an assist, whereas Jimmy Bell Jr. added 3 rebounds.

Mississippi State University Athletics

Postgame Notes: State vs. No. 8 Auburn

Players Mentioned

Jimmy Bell Jr.

Dashawn Davis

Josh Hubbard

D.J. Jeffries

Shawn Jones Jr.

Cameron Matthews

Shakeel Moore

Tolu Smith III

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