Postgame Notes: State vs. No. 5 Tennessee

TEAM NOTES

Mississippi State led wire-to-wire and cruised to a dominant 73-56 victory over top-seeded and No. 5 Tennessee during the opening game of Friday's quarterfinal round of the 2024 SEC Tournament.
The Bulldogs improved to 21-12 this season and advanced to the semifinal round of the SEC Tournament for the first time since the 2009-10 season.
The 17-point margin of victory was the second-largest over a No. 1 seed at the SEC Tournament by a team seeded 3 or lower dating back to 1979. It also marked the Maroon and White's 6th-largest during a SEC Tournament game.
State has won back-to-back games over the Volunteers for the first time since the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons. The Bulldogs also defeated Tennessee twice during the same season for the first time going back to 1998-99.
Today's win gives the Bulldogs three Associated Press Top 10 victories for the first time since the 2001-02 season when State knocked off No. 6 Kentucky and No. 5 Alabama in the regular season coupled with another win over No. 8 Alabama in the SEC Tournament Championship.
Today's win also marked the first time since defeating No. 1 Kentucky and No. 3 Connecticut during the 1995-96 season that a State squad has won two games over Associated Press Top 5 opponent during the same season.
State advances to face No. 12 Auburn during Saturday's semifinal round at the SEC Tournament. Tip time is slated for 12 p.m. CT televised by ESPN.
State has won all eight games this season and 13 of 16 games over the last two seasons under Coach Jans on neutral floors. Overall, Coach Jans is 38-16 in his 8th season as a NCAA Division I coach on neutral floors.
Seven of the eight neutral court wins for the Maroon and White have come by 10+ points and by an average margin of victory of 15.1 points per contest.
The Bulldogs picked up their 42nd win in the Coach Jans era, which is the most wins among the six, second-year SEC head coaches.
State improves to 18-6 this season and to 26-7 over the last two seasons when scoring 70 or more points under Coach Jans.
Also, the Bulldogs improved to 8-0 this season and 22-2 over the last two seasons under Coach Jans when holding their opponents to under 60 points.
Overall, the Bulldogs have held their opponents to less than 70 points in 47 of 66 games (71.2 percent) under Coach Jans.
This season, State has won 16 of their 21 games by 10-plus points.
State held Tennessee to their lowest 1st half point total of the season at 19 points. The 19 first-half points also are State's 2nd-lowest number allowed in the first half in SEC Tournament history.
State's 38-19 (+19) halftime lead ties a Bulldog SEC record for the largest halftime lead in SEC Tournament history.
The Maroon and White improve to 16-2 this season and 34-5 over the last two seasons under Coach Jans when leading at the half.
The Bulldogs improved to 13-4 this season and 21-6 over the last two seasons under Coach Jans during day games.
State is 6-3 this season and 11-4 over the last two seasons under Coach Jans when shooting 50.0 percent or higher. Overall, Jans coached teams are 57-8 when accomplishing the feat.
The Bulldogs are 13-1 this season and 25-5 over the last two seasons under Coach Jans when holding their opponent to under a 40 percent shooting clip.
State scored 21 of its 26 field goals on the interior en route to blitzing the Volunteers by a 42-14 advantage in paint points.
The Bulldogs secured a 14-13 advantage in bench points and have outscored its opponents in 20 outings this season. In those 20 aforementioned contests, the Bulldogs have outscored opponents by a 668-254 margin in bench points.
In 134 halves with Coach Jans at the helm, State has allowed 30 points or fewer on 63 occasions (47.0 percent) and limited the opponents to under a 35 percent shooting clip 40 times (29.9 percent).
The Bulldogs connected on 26-of-47 from the field (55.3 percent), knocked down 4-of-13 from three-point range (30.8 percent) and sank 17-of-22 at the free throw line (77. 3 percent).
State improves to 15-3 this season and 23-5 over the last two seasons under Coach Jans when converting on at least 15 free throws.
Conversely, Tennessee logged a 19-for-62 shooting effort (30.6 percent), sank 8-for-33 of its triples (24.2 percent) and turned in a 10-for-12 effort from the charity stripe (83.3 percent).

PLAYER NOTES
Josh Hubbard

Earned the nod in State's starting five for the 14th straight game.
Collected 18 points and has tallied double figures in 28 of 33 games.
Amassed 26.1 points per game fueled by 34 three-pointers over his last 7 contests sparked by 6 outings of 20+ points.
For the season, sank 104 of 172 field goals (60.5 percent) from beyond the three-point line.
Marked his 18th effort with multiple three-pointers made.
Finished a perfect 5-of-5 from the charity stripe which marks his 12th outing with 5+ free throws made.
Recorded at least one steal in 15 outings this season.

Tolu Smith III

Started his 17th game of 2023-24 and 101 of 106 career games in the Maroon and White.
Produced 8 points and grabbed 5 rebounds.
Smith III's 4 made field goals vaults him into sole possession of 8th place on the program's all-time list with 568 career field goals. He moved past Charles Rhodes (2005-06-07-08) during today's contest.
Grabbed 5+ rebounds for the 18th time of 2023-24 and the 101st time in his career.

Dashawn Davis

Started his 22nd game of the season and 51 of his 64 games with the Bulldogs.
Racked up 7 points, 3 steals and 2 assists.
Grabbed 3+ steals for the 9th time this season with 33 of his 46 games with multiple steals coming during the past two seasons.
Dished out multiple assists for the 22nd outing of 2023-24 and 72nd career outing.
Posted 12.5 points over his last 4 outings.

Cameron Matthews

Started his 53rd straight outing and 66 of the team's 67 games over the last two seasons.
Stuffed the stat sheet with 18 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.
The 18 points ties his season-high and marks Matthews' 2nd-highest scoring output of his career.
Notched double figures for the 15th time this season. In fact, 23 of Matthews' 26 games with 10+ points have come during the last two seasons.
State is now 19-7 lifetime when Matthews reaches double figures.
Finished a flawless 7-of-7 from the field which marks his 12th outing of the season with 5+ field goals made.
The only player in State history to make five or more field goals without missing a shot during a SEC Tournament game.
Grabbed 5+ rebounds for the 25th outing of 2023-24.
Handed out 3+ assists for the 18th time this season and the 40th outing of his career.
Secured multiple steals for the 16th time this season.
Matthews' 8 rebounds give him 634 for his career moving him past Larry Fry (1973-74-75) into 22nd place on the program's all-time rebounds list.
The 2 steals moves Matthews past Craig Sword (2013-14-15-16) and into 5th place on the program's all-time steals list. He now has 186 career steals.
49 of his 67 games with multiple assists, 47 of his 65 games with 5+ rebounds and 33 of his 52 games with 2+ steals have occurred during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons.
Recorded his 10th game of the season with at least a +15 plus/minus rating.

D.J Jeffries

Made his 25th start of the season and has started in 90 of 99 career games as a Bulldog.
Put up 8 points, 7 rebounds, an assist and a steal.
Marked his 19th game of 2023-24 and the 72nd outing of his career with 5+ rebounds.
Finished with a team-leading +18 plus/minus rating during his time on the floor.
Strong defensive effort guarding Tennessee's Dalton Knecht, the SEC Player of the Year, for most of the game. He limited Knecht to 14 points on 4-of-17 shooting.

Bench

Jimmy Bell Jr. secured 8 points, an assist and a block.
Led the bench with a +11 plus/minus ratio.
Shakeel Moore secured 2 points, 3 assists and 2 steals.
Distributed 3+ assists for the 7th outing with 20 of his 33 games with 3+ dimes coming while wearing the Maroon and White.
Recorded multiple steals for the 8th time this season with 41 of his 52 games with 2+ steals coming while at State.
Shawn Jones Jr. and Keshawn Murphy rounded out the scoring with 2 points each.

Mississippi State University Athletics

Postgame Notes: State vs. No. 5 Tennessee

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Players Mentioned

Jimmy Bell Jr.

Dashawn Davis

Josh Hubbard

Shawn Jones Jr.

Cameron Matthews

Shakeel Moore

Tolu Smith III

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