Postgame Notes: State at No. 11 Auburn

TEAM NOTES

State was unable to bounce back from its last-second defeat to No. 16 Kentucky earlier in the week as No. 11 Auburn led wire-to-wire to claim a 78-63 decision on Saturday. The Bulldogs fell to 19-10 overall and 8-8 in SEC action.
After getting outscored 39-22 in the opening half, State was able to edge Auburn by a 41-39 margin during the second 20 minutes.
The Maroon and White faced a ranked Auburn squad for the seventh time during the last nine meetings since 2017-18.
The Tigers have won seven of the last nine aforementioned meetings in the series and improved to 82-71 all-time against State.
The Bulldogs scored 15 of their 22 baskets on the interior en route to outscoring Auburn in paint points, 30-28.
State tucked away a 36-30 rebounding advantage and has won the battle of the boards during 23 of 29 games this season.
The Bulldogs hauled down 14 of the game's 22 offensive rebounds and were only able to muster 10 points on second-chance opportunities.
The Maroon and White held a 13-8 advantage in points off turnovers.
State connected on 22-of-56 from the floor (39.3 percent), sank 7-of-20 from beyond the three-point line (35.0 percent) and hit on 12-of-20 at the charity stripe (60.0 percent).
Conversely, Auburn turned in a 28-of-56 shooting effort (50.0 percent), connected on 9 of its 19 three-pointers attempts (47.4 percent) and produced a 13-for-17 clip from the free throw line (76.5 percent).

PLAYER NOTES

Josh Hubbard

Earned the nod in State's starting five for the 10th straight game.
Collected a team-leading 23 points and has produced double figures in 24 of 29 games fueled by 20+ points in 9 outings this season.
Amassed 469 total points which is now 3rd-most for a freshman in program history trailing only Ray White's 475 points (1975-76) and Rickey Brown's 520 points (1976-77).
Hubbard passed Gary Hooker (1975-76) and Rich Knarr (1972-73) on the freshmen scoring list during today's contest.
Marked his 15th outing with 5+ field goals and his 7th effort with 5+ three-pointers made.
89 of his 145 field goals coming from beyond the arc (61.3 percent).
Hubbard's 89 three's vault him past Lamar Peters (2018-19) and Ravern Johnson (2009-10) for 3rd-most made three-pointers during a season.
Finished 5-of-6 from the charity stripe which marked his 9th game with 5+ foul shots made.
Distributed 3+ assists for the 10th outing of the season.

Started in 97 of his 102 games in the Maroon and White.
Produced 14 points on 6-of-15 from the floor and hauled down 10 rebounds to claim his 7th double-double of the 2023-24 season.
Tallied 22 of his league-best 32 double-doubles versus SEC competition.
17 of his last 33 games have resulted in double-doubles since mid-January of last season.
Notched double figures in 14 of 17 outings this season and in 79 of 102 games at State.
Grabbed 10+ rebounds for the 7th time of 2023-24 and the 35th time of his career.
The 14 points give Smith III 1,497 for his career and moves him into 12th place on the program's all-time scoring list.
Smith III passed Tony Watts (1989-90-91-92) and Craig Sword (2013-14-15-16) during today'sgame.
Smith III's 14 points marked his 79th game in double figures which moved him into a 10th-place tie with Cameron Burns (1989-90-91) on the program's list.
He passed Craig Sword (2013-14-15-16) during today'scontest.
Marked his 13th game of the season and 59th career game of 5+ made field goals.
Secured 2+ steals for the 2nd outing of 2023-24 and 17th outing of his career.
Dished out multiple assists for the 6th game this season and 37th game of his career.

Started his 49th straight outing and 62 of the team's 63 games over the last two seasons.
Turned in a solid all-around effort with 3 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.
Grabbed 10+ rebounds for the 8th outing of 2023-24 and 14th outing of his career.
The 10 rebounds moved Matthews into sole possession of 24th place passing Joe Dan Gold (1961-62-63) on the program's career rebounds list. He now has 610 career rebounds.
Handed out 3+ dimes for the 15th time this season and 37th time of his career.
Collected multiple steals for the 15th outing of 2023-24.
46 of his 64 games with multiple assists, 45 of 63 games with 5+ rebounds and 32 of 51 games of multiple steals occurring during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons.

Made 65 of his 67 career starts while at State and has started the team's last 21 games.
Secured 6 points, an assist and a block.
Posted 10.6 points per game over his last 10 outings.
Registered a steal in 83 of 118 career games.

Registered the starting nod for the seventh straight game, the eighth time this season and the eighth time over his 52 career appearances.
Added 4 points and a rebound.

Bench

D.J. Jeffries tacked on 6 points, 4 rebounds and a steal.
The 4 rebounds give Jeffries 502 for his State career and moves him into 39th place on the program's all-time rebounds list.
Jeffries passed Chauncey Robinson (1983-84-85-86) during today's game.
Dashawn Davis compiled 5 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists.
Marked his 13th game of the season and 44th career game with multiple assists.
KeShawn Murphy put up 2 points, 3 rebounds, a steal and a block.
Pumped home 7.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest over his last seven games.

Mississippi State University Athletics