Postgame Notes: State vs. No. 18 Pitt

TEAM NOTES

Mississippi State bounced back in a big way and blitzed No. 18 Pitt by a 90-57 margin during Wednesday's SEC/ACC Challenge matchup at Humphrey Coliseum.
The 33-point win is the largest margin of victory against a ranked opponent in school history. The previous mark was a 70-47 rout against No. 25 Florida on 02/01/1995.
The 33-point triumph was the largest margin of victory over the two years of the SEC/ACC Challenge.
State has won two of the three all-time meetings versus Pitt. Tonight's matchup marked the first meeting between the two programs during the regular season.
The Bulldogs picked up their sixth win against an Associated Press Top 25 opponent under Coach Jans. Five of the six triumphs have come inside the friendly confines of Humprey Coliseum.
The six ranked wins for Coach Jans tie him with Rick Stansbury for the most ranked wins through a coach's first three seasons. Coach Jans accomplished the feat in the fewest number of games to get six ranked wins in program history.
State advanced to 3-0 on the season and 25-2 under Coach Jans when holding its opponent to less than 60 points.
The Bulldogs have started the season with eight different starting lineup combos this season.
State has posted an 11-4 mark versus fellow non-conference Power 6 basketball schools (ACC, BIG EAST, Big Ten, Big 12, former Pac-12) under Coach Jans. Nine of the 11 wins have come on the road or neutral floors.
State is now 30-5 in games against non-SEC opponents during the Coach Jans era.
The Maroon and White is now 4-0 on the season and moved to 27-8 with Coach Jans at the helm at home.
State advanced to 10-3 during the month of December under Coach Jans.
The Bulldogs won the rebounding battle, 49-27, for the 52nd time under Chris Jans which includes the sixth time in eight games this season. State is 40-12 when accomplishing the feat.
The +22 rebound margin is the largest margin for the Bulldogs during the Coach Jans era.
The Bulldogs scored 26 of their 37 field goals on the interior en route to a 52-14 advantage in paint points.
State had five players score in double figures for the third time this season and for the 4th time under Coach Jans. The Bulldogs are 4-0 in those games.
The Maroon and White were able to get out in transition and scored 11 of the game's 13 fast break points.
State doubled up the Panthers in second chance points, 24-12.
As a team, State connected on 37-64 from the field (57.8 percent), notched a 7-for-21 clip from three-point territory (33.3 percent) and sank 9-of-13 at the foul line (69.2 percent).
State advanced to 42-7 with Coach Jans at the helm when shooting a higher field goal percentage than its opponent.
The Bulldogs are also 3-0 on the season and 14-4 under Coach Jans when shooting at least 50 percent from the field.
Conversely, Pittsburgh recorded a 20-64 shooting effort (31.3 percent), hit on 8-of-26 of its three-pointers (30.8 percent) and knocked down 9-for-13 at the charity stripe (69.2 percent).

PLAYER NOTES

Josh Hubbard

Started his 22nd consecutive game over the last two seasons.
Recorded 12 points to go along with four dimes, a rebound and a takeaway.
Notched double figures in 17 consecutive games dating back to the Ole Miss game on 02/21/2024 and for the 37th time in 43 career games.
Compiled 744 points in his career, which is third in school history for freshmen and sophomores through 43 career games. He trails only Ray White (762 points) and Rich Knarr (757 points) from the 1970s.
Impacted the game with a +28 plus-minus rating.
Buried at least one trey in 21 straight games dating back to the Georgia game on 02/07/2024.
Drained multiple triples for the 37th time in his 43-game career at State.
Through six games, Hubbard is shooting 51-of-109 (46.7 percent) from the field and a healthy 28-of-64 clip (43.7 percent) on three-pointers.
Dished out multiple assists in seven out of eight games this season.

Riley Kugel

Appeared in State's starting five for the 3rd time this season and the 31st time of his career.
Collected five points with four rebounds, four assists and swiped two steals.
Dished out multiple assists for the 23rd time of his career.
Swiped multiple steals for the second game in a row and the 14th outing of his career.

RJ Melendez

Made his third start in Maroon and White and his 29th career start.
Contributed 10 points while snagging three rebounds, multiple dimes and a steal.
Marked his 19th career outing with multiple dimes.

Cameron Matthews

Started in 75 of the team's last 77 games over the last three seasons.
Competed in his school-record 141st game tying him with Barry Stewart and Jarvis Varnado.
Cashed in the first points of the contest on a tip putback.
Stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, tied a season-high 13 rebounds, tying a season's best four steals and added four assists.
Led State in rebounding for the 29th time of his career.
Totaled a +21 plus minus rating with gives him a cumulative +584 plus-minus rating over the last 77 games with Coach Jans at the helm.
The four takeaways give Matthews 215 steals for his career and moves him to within three of passing Ray White's program record.
Hauled down at least five boards in his 72nd career outing.
The 13 rebounds give Matthews at 699 for his career, which propelled him past Aric Holman (2016-17-18-19) and Charles Rhodes (2005-06-07-08) to take 15th place in program history.
Swiped multiple steals in all eight games of 2024-25 and for the 62nd game of his career.

Michael Nwoko

Made his 6th start as a Bulldog and the 7th start of his career.
Achieved a career-high 18 points and tied his season-high of 11 rebounds in 18 minutes of action.
Recorded the first double-double of his career.
Also tied a career-high three rejections in the effort.
Reached double figures for the 2nd time of his career.
Notched his 2nd career game with 10 or more boards.

Bench

KeShawn Murphy provided a career-high and team-leading 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting and seven rebounds along with a block to head State's bench effort.
Notched double figures for the 5th time in the last six games at the 11th of his career.
Led State in scoring in three games this season and five times in his career.
Grabbed at least five boards for the seventh time in eight games this season and the 15th time of his career.
Claudell Harris Jr. recorded 10 points with multiple boards, an assist and a takeaway.
Buried multiple trifectas for the fifth game this season and the 64th outing of his career.
Shawn Jones Jr. contributed four points to go along with five boards and a dime.
His fifth career outing hauling down at least five rebounds.
Dellquan Warren dished out two assists, grabbed a rebound and swiped a steal.
Jeremy Foumena entered the game and finished a dunk, respectively.

Mississippi State University Athletics

Postgame Notes: State vs. No. 18 Pitt

Players Mentioned

Cameron Matthews

Related Videos