Postgame Notes: State vs. Georgia

TEAM NOTES

Mississippi State returned to the win column and protected its home floor to begin the SEC's second half with an emphatic 75-62 victory over Georgia to improve to 15-8 overall and 4-6 in SEC play.
The Bulldogs have won 11 of their 15 games by double-digit points this season.
State nearly led wire-to-wire and jumped out to an 18-8 lead after Josh Hubbard converted on three free throw attempts at the 8:17 mark.
The Bulldogs the first half spread to as much as 14 points, 31-17 and 34-20, the later coming off a Hubbard three-pointer.
State took a 36-28 advantage into the locker room before Georgia pulled as close as three points, 56-53, with 7:29 left.
State answered the bell with eight consecutive points courtesy of consecutive treys from Shawn Jones Jr. and Hubbard followed by a Tolu Smith III layup.
Up 66-60 with 2:54 to go, State used a strong finishing kick with a 9-0 spurt. The flurry was highlighted by a traditional Smith III three-point play and a dunk. Both plays were assisted by Dashawn Davis.
State's victory enabled the Bulldogs to knot the all-time series with Georgia at 59-59.
The Maroon and White have won six of the last seven meetings over UGA dating back to the 2017-18 season sparked by four straight victories in Starkville.
State has won all four of those aforementioned home meetings by 10+ points.
The Bulldogs moved to 9-2 this season and 21-6 over the last two seasons under Coach Jans at Humphrey Coliseum.
Overall, Coach Jans has posted an 88-17 home record during his eight-year career at the NCAA Division I level.
The Maroon and White improve to 12-1 this season and 30-4 over the last two seasons under Coach Jans when leading at the half.
The Bulldogs improve to 7-3 in February games under Coach Jans, while Coach Jans is 44-12 overall over his eight seasons at the NCAA Division I level.
State had four players secure double figures which marked the 9th time this season that the Bulldogs have accomplished this feat. The Maroon and White improved to 7-2 in those contests in 2023-24 and 12-3 over the last two seasons under Coach Jans.
Under the direction of Coach Jans, his teams are 49-13 when accomplishing the feat of having four players record 10+ points.
State tucked away a 43-33 rebounding edge and have won the battle of the boards during 18 of the 23 games this season.
The Bulldogs are 9-2 this season and 21-6 over the last two seasons when grabbing 40+ rebounds.
State has earned a +10 rebounding edge in eight games this season and on 18 overall occasions under Coach Jans over the last two seasons.
The Bulldogs scored 14 of their 25 baskets on the interior en route to doubling up Georgia in paint points, 28-14.
State is 15-6 this season and 34-12 over the last two seasons under Coach Jans when scoring 60 or more points.
State also outscored UGA's Bulldogs in fast break points by a 15-5 margin.
In 114 halves over the last two seasons with Coach Jans at the helm, State has allowed 30 points or fewer on 56 occasions (49.1 percent) and limited the opposition to under 35 percent shooting clip 36 times (31.6 percent).
The Maroon and White improve to 15-6 this season and 31-9 over the last two seasons under Coach Jans when shooting 40.0 percent or higher.
The Bulldogs also moved to 10-1 this season and 22-6 over the last two seasons under Coach Jans when holding their opponent to under a 40 percent shooting clip.
State connected on 25-of-60 from the floor (41.7 percent), sank 9-of-28 from three-point territory (32.1 percent) and hit on 16-of-19 at the charity stripe (84.2 percent).
The Bulldogs have won 10 of 12 games in 2023-24 and 18 of 22 games over two seasons when making 15 or more free throws with Coach Jans at the helm.
Conversely, Georgia turned in a 20-for-57 shooting effort (35.1 percent), sank 12-for-33 of its three-pointers (36.4 percent) and produced a 10-for-13 clip from the free throw line (76.9 percent).

PLAYER NOTES

Tolu Smith III

Started in 93 of his 96 career games at State.
Produced 13 of his team-leading 19 points during the second half.
Notched double figures in 74 of 96 games at State.
Drained 8-of-10 from the field and was 3-of-5 at the foul line.
Hauled down a season's best 12 rebounds and 2 assists.
Turned in his 4th double-double of 2023-24 and tallied 19 of his league-best 29 double-doubles versus SEC competition.
14 of his last 27 outings in double figures have also resulted in a double-double for Smith III dating back to mid-January of last season.
Registered his 32nd career performance of 10+ rebounds.
Dished out multiple dimes for the 4th time this season and the 35th time of his career.

Shakeel Moore

Made 59 of his 61 career starts while at State and has started the team's last 15 games.
Secured 11 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal.
Produced double-digit points in 10 of the 15 aforementioned starts this season.
Registered 37 of his 42 career games with double figures at State.
Mississippi State and North Carolina State improve to 28-14 when Moore scores 10+ points.
Buried multiple three-pointers for the 3rd time this season and the 35th time of his career.
Recorded a steal in 79 of 112 games.

Cameron Matthews

Started 56 of the team's 57 games over the last two seasons.
Stuffed the stat sheet with 9 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, a season-high 4 blocks and 3 steals. Logged a team-best +23 plus/minus rating during his time on the floor.
Grabbed 10+ rebounds for the 6th outing in 2023-24 and 12th career outing.
Registered multiple blocks for the 3rd time of 2023-24 and the 12th time of his career.
Distributed 3+ assists for 10th time this season and 33rd time of his career.
Recorded 3+ steals in 9 outings in 2023-24 and for the 24th occasion in his career.
The 11 rebounds gives Matthews 569 for his career and moves him into 28th-place which enabled him to pass Todd Merritt (1988-89-90-91) and Gary Hooker (176-77-78) on the program's all-time rebounds list during tonight's game.
The 3 steals gives Matthews 165 for his career and moves him into a 6th-place tie with Chuck Evans (1992-93) on the program's all-time list. He passed Barry Stewart (2007-08-09-10) on the program's steals list during tonight's game.
40 of 58 games with 2+ assists, 40 of 58 games of 5+ rebounds, and 28 of 47 games of 2+ steals have come during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons.

Josh Hubbard

Earned the nod in the starting five for the 4th straight game.
Collected 14 points and has produced double figures in 19 of 23 games this season.
Amassed 340 total points which is 5th-most for a freshman in program history through 23 games and the most since Rickey Brown (1976-77).
Knocked down multiple treys for the 19th time and has drained 62 of his 106 field goals from beyond the arc (58.5 percent).
Finished a flawless 5-of-5 from the foul line which marked his 6th effort of 5+ free throws made.
Matched his season's best with 4 rebounds for the 6th time this season.

Shawn Jones Jr.

Inserted into the starting five for the second time this season and for also the second time over his 47 career appearances.
Managed 7 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and equaled a season-high with 2 blocks.
Grabbed 5+ rebounds for the second-straight game and his 3rd career outing.
Marked his 2nd outing of the season and 4th career outing with multiple blocks.
Registered his 6th outing of the season and the 7th career effort with multiple dimes.

Bench

KeShawn Murphy compiled 10 points, 4 rebound and an assist in his return to action since State's SEC opener at South Carolina.
Recorded his 2nd game of the season and 4th career performance in double figures.
Set a season's best with two three-pointers which marked the 4th career occasion where he hit multiple treys.
Dashawn Davis tucked away 5 points, distributed a season-high 8 assists and 2 steals.
Distributed 5+ assists for the 4th outing of the season and 33rd outing of his career.
The 8 assists also tied a State career-best when he also had 8 dimes in last season's win over Florida at the SEC Tournament.
Secured multiple steals for the 9th time this season, whereas 27 of his 40 career games of 2+ steals have come during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons.

Mississippi State University Athletics

Postgame Notes: State vs. Georgia

Players Mentioned

Dashawn Davis

Josh Hubbard

Shawn Jones Jr.

Cameron Matthews

Shakeel Moore

KeShawn Murphy

Tolu Smith III

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