Postgame Notes: State vs. No. 16 Kentucky

TEAM NOTES

Mississippi State took an 11-point advantage over the opening 5:25 of the contest, stretched it to a 13-point spread early in the second half and nearly overcame an 8-point hole during the closing 57 seconds before Kentucky emerged with an 91-89 win on a last second shot.
The Bulldogs had their five-game winning streak come to a close and dropped to 19-9 overall and 8-7 in SEC action.
State falls to 11-4 under Coach Jans in February, while Coach Jans is 48-14 over his eight seasons at the NCAA Division I level in February games.
The Bulldogs drops to 11-3 this season and 23-7 over the last two seasons under Coach Jans in home games. Overall, Coach Jans is 90-18 in home games during his 8th season at the NCAA Division I level.
State tucked away a 34-27 rebounding advantage and has won the battle of the boards during 22 of 28 games this season.
The Bulldogs were able to secure a 19-12 edge in fastbreak points.
State had two players finish with 20+ points for the second time this season.
The Bulldogs registered SEC game-highs in points (89), field goals made (33) and three's (11) made under Coach Jans.
State connected on 33-of-64 from the floor (51.6 percent), sank 11-of-25 from beyond the three-point line (44.0 percent) and hit on 12-of-17 at the charity stripe (70.6 percent).
It marked back-to-back games and the sixth time this season that the Bulldogs have buried double-digit treys.
Conversely, Kentucky turned in a 33-60 shooting effort (55 percent), connected on 10-30 of its three-pointers (33.3 percent) and produced a 15-for-17 clip from the free throw line (88.2 percent).

PLAYER NOTES

Josh Hubbard

Earned the nod in State's starting five for the 9th straight game.
Collected new career-highs of 34 points, 11 field goals made and 7 three-pointers.
Amassed 22 of the 34 points during the second half fueled by a trio of treys over the contest's final 45 seconds.
His second-straight game of 30+ points, which marked the first time a State player has accomplished the feat since Jeff Malone, the program's all-time leading scorer, at Ole Miss (36 points) on 02/19/1983 and at LSU (33 points) on 02/21/1983.
Produced double figures in 23 of 28 games fueled by 20+ points in 8 outings this season.
Amassed 446 total points, which is 5th-most for a freshman in program history through 28 games and the most since Rickey Brown (1976-77).
Marked his 1st outing with 10+ field goals and his 6th effort with 5+ three-pointers made.
Drained 83 of his 139 field goals from beyond the arc (59.7 percent).
Finished 5-of-6 from the charity stripe which marked his 8th game with 5+ free throws made.

Cameron Matthews

Started his 48th straight outing and 61 of the team's 62 games over the last two seasons.
Provided a solid all-around effort with 7 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals.
Grabbed 5+ rebounds for the 22nd outing of 2023-24.
The 7 rebounds moved Matthews into a 24th-place tie with Joe Dan Gold (1961-62-63) on the program's career rebounds list with 600 rebounds.
Handed out 5+ dimes for the 7th time this season and 12th time of his career.
State dropped to 8-4 over his career when Matthews has 5+ assists.
Collected 3+ steals for the 12th outing of 2023-24 and 27th outing of his career.
45 of his 63 games with multiple assists, 44 of 62 games with 5+ rebounds and 31 of 50 games of multiple steals occurring during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons.

Shakeel Moore

Made 64 of his 66 career starts while at State and has started the team's last 20 games.
Secured 10 points for his 7th outing over his last 9 games with double figures and for the 13th time in the 19 aforementioned starts this season.
The 10 points allowed Moore to join D.J. Jeffries and Tolu Smith III as the 3rd active player on State's roster to surpass 1,000 career points.
Registered 40 of his 45 career games with double-figures at State.
Mississippi State and North Carolina State fall to 30-15 when Moore scores 10+ points.

Tolu Smith III

Started in 96 of his 101 games in the Maroon and White.
Produced 21 points on 9-of-13 from the floor and hauled down 10 rebounds to claim his 6th double-double of the 2023-24 season.
Tallied 21 of his league-best 31 double-doubles versus SEC competition.
16 of his last 32 games have resulted in double-doubles dating back to mid-January.
Secured 20+ points for the 6th time in 2023-24 and has amassed 18 of his 24 career outings of 20+ points against SEC opponents.
Garnered his 2nd outing this season with 20+ points and 10+ rebounds with 10 of his 12 career 20/10 games occurring against SEC opponents.
Smith III joined Vanderbilt's Scotty Pippen Jr. as the only SEC players over the last decade to have three consecutive games of 20-plus points against Kentucky according to Elias.
Notched double figures in 13 of 16 outings this season and in 78 of 101 games at State.
Grabbed 10+ rebounds for the 6th time of 2023-24 and 34th time of his career.
The 10 rebounds give Smith III 811 for his career and moves him into 9th place on the program's all-time rebounds list.
Smith III passed Abdul Ado (2018-19-20-21) during tonight's game.
Smith III's 9 made field goals moved him into 11th-place as he passed Rich Knarr (1973-74-75-76) and Jarvis Varnado (2007-08-09-10) on the program's list. He has knocked down 549 career field goals.
Marked his 12th game of the season and 58th career game of 5+ made field goals.

Shawn Jones Jr.

Registered the starting nod for the sixth straight game, the seventh time this season and the seventh time over his 52 career appearances.
State falls to 5-2 this season with Jones Jr. in the starting lineup.
Tacked on 3 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists.
Marked his 9th outing of 2023-24 and 10th career outing with 2+ dimes.

Bench

KeShawn Murphy compiled 6 points, 6 rebounds and a career-best 3 assists.
Pumped home 8.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per contest over his last six games.
Recorded his 5th game of the season and 7th game of his career with 5+ rebounds.
Marked his 3rd outing of 2023-24 and 7th career performance of multiple assists.
D.J. Jeffries tacked on 6 points finishing a perfect 2-for-2 from three.
Drained multiple treys for the 6th occasion this season and the 34th career outing.
Dashawn Davis rounded out the scoring with 2 points.

Mississippi State University Athletics

Postgame Notes: State vs. No. 16 Kentucky

Players Mentioned

Dashawn Davis

Josh Hubbard

D.J. Jeffries

Shawn Jones Jr.

Cameron Matthews

Shakeel Moore

KeShawn Murphy

Tolu Smith III

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