Postgame Notes: No. 25 State vs. Butler

TEAM NOTES

Mississippi State nearly overcame a double-digit deficit for the third time on the young season before Butler emerged with an 87-77 decision over No. 25 Mississippi State during Friday's championship game of the Arizona Tipoff.
Butler has won both meetings in the all-time series. The other was a 47-46 win over State during the 2003 NCAA Tournament Round of 64.
State used its seventh different starting five combination in as many games.
The Bulldogs dropped to 10-4 mark versus fellow non-conference Power 6 basketball schools (ACC, BIG EAST, Big Ten, Big 12, former Pac-12) under Coach Jans.
State fell to 29-5 versus non-SEC opponents during the Coach Jans era.
The Maroon and White are 2-1 on the season and moved to 15-6 with Coach Jans at the helm in neutral site contests.
State fell to 19-2 during the month of November under Coach Jans.
The Bulldogs scored 19 of their 26 field goals on the interior en route to a 38-24 advantage in paint points.
State had at least four players score in double figures for the third time this season and for the 20th time under Coach Jans. The Bulldogs are 15-5 in those games.
The Maroon and White scored all 10 of the game's points in transition.
State committed a season's low six turnovers. It marked the fourth time that the Bulldogs have registered six turnovers or less under Coach Jans.
Keys to Butler's win was registering 31 of the game's 38 points off the bench and outrebounding the Maroon and White by a 44-33 advantage.
During its first six games, State had averaged 43.2 bench points per contest.
It marked only the fourth time in 76 games that State lost the rebounding battle by double digits under Coach Jans.
As a team, State connected on 26-of-69 from the field (37.7 percent), notched a 7-for-27 clip from three-point territory (25.9 percent) and sank 18-of-21 at the foul line (85.7 percent).
The 85.7 percent clip at the free throw line matches the best for a State team under Coach Jans with a minimum of 10 foul shots made.
Conversely, Butler recorded a 28-for-53 shooting effort (52.8 percent), hit on 12-of-22 of its three-pointers (54.5 percent) and knocked down 19-for-27 at the charity stripe (70.4 percent).

PLAYER NOTES

Kanye Clary

Made his fourth start in Maroon and White and his 29th career start.
Dished out two assists, his 29th career outing with multiple dimes.

Josh Hubbard

Started his 21st consecutive game over the last two seasons.
Shared the team lead with 22 points to go along with three dimes, three rebounds and two steals.
Notched double figures in 16 consecutive games dating back to the Ole Miss game on 02/21/2024 and for the 37th time in 42 career games.
Compiled 732 points in his career, which is third in school history for freshmen and sophomores through 42 career games. He trails only Ray White (744 points) and Rich Knarr (743 points) from the 1970s.
Buried at least one trey in 20 straight games dating back to the Georgia game on 02/07/2024.
Drained multiple triples for the 36th time in his 42-game career at State.
Through six games, Hubbard is shooting 46-of-97 (47.4 percent) from the field and a healthy 26-of-58 clip (44.8 percent) on three-pointers.
Dished out multiple assists in six out of seven games this season.

Riley Kugel

Appeared in State's starting five for the 2nd time this season and the 30th time of his career.
Collected a season's best and shared the team lead with 22 points coupled with three rebounds, two steals and a dime.
The 22 points matched his fifth-best scoring output of his career and his 9th performance of 20+ points in his career.
Four of his top six scoring efforts have come against non-SEC opponents.
Began the second half with 12 straight points highlighted by two treys.
Knocked down a career-high tying four triples, his 24th outing with multiple three's.
Turned in multiple steals for the 13th time of his career.

Cameron Matthews

Started in 74 of the team's last 76 games over the last three seasons.
Filled the stat sheet with 14 points, six rebounds, a season's best four steals and an assist.
The four takeaways give Matthews 211 steals for his career and moves him to within seven of Ray White's program record.
Hauled down at least five boards in his 71st career outing.
The six rebounds give Matthews at 686 for his career, which is good enough for 17th place in program history.
Swiped multiple steals in all seven games of 2024-25 and for the 61st game of his career.

Michael Nwoko

Made his 5th start as a Bulldog and the 6th start of his career.
Cashed in the first bucket of the game for the Bulldogs on a post layup.
Achieved a career-high 11 points and collected five rebounds.
Sank an efficient 7-of-8 of his free throws. The 7 foul shots made were a career-high.
Notched his ninth career game with five or more boards.

Bench

KeShawn Murphy provided six points and 12 rebounds to head State's bench effort.
Led State in rebounding during five of seven games this season.
The Bulldogs dropped to 6-1 when Murphy leads the team in rebounding.
Grabbed at least 10 boards for the 3rd time this season and the 4th time in his career.
Shawn Jones Jr. notched two points and two steals.
His 11th career game with multiple steals.

Mississippi State University Athletics

Postgame Notes: No. 25 State vs. Butler

Players Mentioned

Cameron Matthews

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