Postgame Notes: No. 25 State vs. UNLV

TEAM NOTES

For the third consecutive season under Chris Jans, Mississippi State moved to 6-0 as the Bulldogs routed the UNLV Runnin' Rebels, 80-58, during Thursday's semifinal round of the Arizona Tipoff in Tempe, Arizona.
The Bulldogs will face Butler from the BIG EAST Conference for the event's tournament title. Friday's tip time is set for approximately 8:30 p.m. CT televised by CBS Sports Network.
It marked the first time in program history that State has started 6-0 during three consecutive seasons.
State claimed its largest victory during a regular season multi-team tournament event since the Bulldogs defeated Saint Louis, 75-50, during the 2014 Corpus Christi Challenge in Corpus Christi, Texas.
The last time State earned a double-digit point win over a current Mountain West opponent was a 68-55 decision over Hawaii back in 1987-88.
Coach Jans also is the first coach in State history to start 3-0 in three straight seasons against fellow Power 6 conference teams (ACC, BIG EAST, Big Ten, Big 12, former Pac 12) during his first three seasons as head coach.
State has dialed up victories in 29 of 33 games against non-SEC opponents during the Coach Jans era and have held 21 of those opponents under 60 points.
The Maroon and White are 2-0 on the season and moved to 15-5 during the Chris Jans era in neutral site contests.
State grabbed a season's best 19 offensive rebounds and has posted 17.3 offensive boards per contest over the team's last three games.
The Bulldogs converted their 19 offensive rebounds into 30 of the game's 33 points on second-chance opportunities.
State improved to 19-1 during the month of November with Coach Jans at the helm.
State scored 15 of its 29 field goals on the interior en route to a 30-26 edge in paint points.
The Bulldogs won the battle of the boards, 46-29. It marked the 51st time in 75 games as State improved to 39-12 when outrebounding its opponent under Coach Jans.
As a team, State connected on 29-67 from the field (43.3 percent), notched a 12-32 clip from three-point territory (37.5 percent) and sank 10-18 at the foul line (55.6 percent).
The Bulldogs have drained 10+ three-pointers in three of the team's six games on the season.
On the other hand, UNLV recorded a 21-48 shooting effort (43.8 percent), hit 8-20 of its three-pointers (40.0 percent) and knocked down 8-15 at the charity stripe (53.3 percent).

PLAYER NOTES

Claudell Harris Jr.

Made his third start in Maroon and White and his 67th career start.
Recorded six points on two triples and added two boards.
Collected his 63rd game knocking down multiple treys.

Josh Hubbard

Started in his 20th consecutive game over the last two seasons.
Contributed 11 points to go along with three dimes against zero turnovers and collected two rebounds in 22 minutes of action.
Notched double figures in 15 consecutive games dating back to the Ole Miss game on 02/21/2024 and for the 36th time in 41 career games.
Compiled 710 points in his career, which is third in school history for freshmen and sophomores through 41 career games. He trails only Ray White (728 points) and Rich Knarr (715 points) from the 1970s.
Buried at least one trey in 19 straight games dating back to the Georgia game on 02/07/2024.
Drained multiple triples for the 35th time of his 41-game career at State.
Impacted the team with a +27 plus-minus rating, which was second highest on the team.
Through six games, Hubbard is shooting an efficient 39-of-81 (48.1 percent) from the field and a healthy 23-of-47 clip (48.9 percent) on three-pointers.
Dished out multiple assists in five out of six games this season.

RJ Melendez

Appeared in State's starting five for the 2nd time this season and 28th time in his career.
Scored the Bulldogs' first points of the night on a tip-in putback.
Added seven points to go along with five rebounds and a steal.
Snagged at least five boards for his 26th career outing and his fourth time in six games this season.

Cameron Matthews

Started in 73 of the team's last 75 games over the last three seasons.
Compiled a cumulative +566 plus/minus rating over those 75 games when on the floor with Coach Jans at the helm.
Filled the stat sheet with two points, four assists, four rebounds, three steals and a block.
The three steals give Matthews 207 for his career which enabled him to surpass Derrick Zimmerman (2000-01-02-03) for 2nd place in program history.
Dished out multiple dimes for the 74th game of his career and the fifth time this season.
The four rebounds enabled Matthews to surpass Jamont Gordon (2006-07-08) and Tang Hamilton (1998-99-2000-01) for 17th place in program history.
Swiped multiple steals for the 60th game of his career.

Michael Nwoko

Made his 4th start as a Bulldog and the 5th start of his career.
Added six points and six rebounds as well as a steal.
Notched his eighth career game with five or more boards.

Bench

State's bench racked up 48 points on its way to outscoring the Runnin' Rebels by a 48-13 margin.
Through six games, the Bulldogs have racked up 259 bench points for an average of 43.2 points per contest.
KeShawn Murphy provided a team-leading 14 points, 13 rebounds and four dimes along with a steal and a rejection.
His fourth game in a row with double-digit points; the first time he's reached that feat in four consecutive games during his career.
State improved to 9-1 when Murphy scores double-digit points.
Notched his second career double-double and his second double-double over his last three outings.
Led State in rebounding during four of six games this season.
The Bulldogs are 6-0 over Murphy's career when he leads the team in rebounding.
Registered a team-high +28 plus/minus rating.
Kanye Clary contributed nine points to go along with a dime and a rebound.
Riley Kugel chipped in four points, an assist and a rebound.
Gai Chol secured six points while hauling down a season-high four rebounds, dishing out a career-high two assists and tying his career-high with a steal.
Knocked down both of his foul shots and is now 14-15 (93.3 percent) from the charity stripe for his career.
The six points marked Chol's 3rd largest scoring output.
Shawn Jones Jr. added five points to go along with a rebound.
Dellquan Warren secured three assists, two rebounds, a steal and a point.
Distributed three or more assists in three of his four appearances on the season.
Martavious Russell, Jeremy Foumena and Harrison Alexander all checked in and cashed in a three-pointer each, respectively.
Alexander's triple were his first collegiate points.

Mississippi State University Athletics

Postgame Notes: No. 25 State vs. UNLV

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