Postgame Notes: State vs. No. 17 South Carolina

TEAM NOTES

State finished the regular season by falling to No. 17 South Carolina in a 93-89 overtime battle on Senior Day. The Bulldogs sit at 19-12 overall and 8-10 in SEC play.
The Maroon and White will face LSU during Thursday's 8-9 matchup at the SEC Tournament. Seeding will be determined as LSU faces Missouri later tonight.
The Gamecocks swept the regular season series over State for the first time going back to the 2016-17 season. Overall, the Bulldogs are 29-19 against South Carolina.
State dropped to 11-4 in home games in 2023-24 and to 23-8 over the last two seasons under Coach Jans. Overall, Coach Jans holds a 90-19 record in home games at the NCAA Division I level.
The Bulldogs grabbed a 39-32 rebounding advantage and have won the battle of the boards in 24 out of 31 games this season.
State has a 17-7 record this season when outrebounding its opponents and are 34-11 during the last two seasons when accomplishing the feat under Coach Jans.
The Bulldogs scored all seven of the game's points on fastbreak opportunities.
State falls to 10-4 this season and to 15-4 over the last two seasons when scoring 70 or more points under Coach Jans.
The Bulldogs drop to 8-3 this season and to 13-4 during the past two seasons in the Coach Jans era when at least four Bulldogs score in double figures.
State falls to 13-3 when converting on at least 15 free throws.
State drops to 19-4 this season when shooting a higher field goal percentage than its opponent, and to 36-7 in the last two seasons under Coach Jans.
The Bulldogs connected on 31-of-62 from the field (50.0 percent), knocked down 8-of-20 from three-point range (40.0 percent) and sank 19-of-25 at the free throw line (76.0 percent).
Conversely, South Carolina logged a 32-for-66 shooting effort (48.5 percent), sank 9-for-28 of its triples (32.1 percent) and turned in a 20-for-24 effort from the charity stripe (83.3 percent).

PLAYER NOTES

Josh Hubbard

Earned the nod in State's starting five for the 12th straight game.
Collected a team-leading 28 points and has tallied double figures in 26 of 31 games.
Marked his 5th straight outing of 20+ points and his 11th performance of 20+ points for the season which is tops in the country among true freshmen.
The 28 points enabled him to surpass Rickey Brown (1976-77) for the top spot in program history for a freshman. He now has 521 points on the season.
Was 7-of-18 from the field, 4-of-10 on three-pointers and 10-of-11 at the free throw line.
The 4 treys vaulted him past Darryl Wilson (1995-96) for the program's single-season record for three-pointers made. He has sank 98 of 161 field goals (60.9) percent from beyond the three-point line.
The 10 free throws made were a season's best for Hubbard and a season-high for a State player in 2023-24.
Marked his 17th outing with 5+ field goals and his 11th effort with 4+ three-pointers made.
Distributed multiple assists for the 16th outing of the season.
Recorded at least one steal in 14 outings this season.

Tolu Smith III

Started in 99 of his 104 games in the Maroon and White.
Produced 14 points on 5-of-11 from the floor and grabbed 10 rebounds to claim his 8th double-double of the 2023-24 season.
Tallied 23 of his league-best 33 career double-doubles versus SEC competition.
18 of his last 35 games have resulted in double-doubles dating back to mid-January of last season.
Notched double figures in 15 of 19 outings this season and in 80 of 104 games at State.
The 80 career games in double figures moved Smith III into a tie with Tony Watts (1989-90-91-92) for 9th place on the program's list.
Smith III eclipsed Cameron Burns (1989-90-91) during today's contest.
Grabbed 10+ rebounds for the 8th time of 2023-24 and the 36th time in his career.
The 14 points puts Smith III 1,519 for his career which keeps him in 11th place on State's all-time scoring list.
The 10 rebounds give Smith III 835 for his career. He surpassed Kalpatrick Wells (1980-81-82-83) to claim sole possession of 8th place during today's game.
Marked his 14th game of the season and 60th career game of 5+ made field goals.
Smith III has now hit on 564 field goals in his career. After today's contest, he eclipsed Tony Watts (1989-90-91-92) and Cameron Burns (1989-90-91) to sit in 9th place in program history.

Cameron Matthews

Started his 51st straight outing and 64 of the team's 65 games over the last two seasons.
Filled the stat sheet with 18 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks and a steal.
His nine field goals made are a career-high, and it marked the 11th time that Matthews has connected on 5+ baskets.
Recorded his 5th double-double this season and the 6th double-double of his career.
Notched double figures for the 14th time this season.
In fact, 22 of Matthews' 25 games with 10+ points have come during the last two seasons. State is now 18-7 lifetime when he reaches double figures.
Grabbed 10+ rebounds for the 9th outing of 2023-24 and 15th outing of his career.
Matthews currently sits in 23rd place on the all-time rebounding list in school history with 625 in his career.
Distributed 3+ assists for the 16^th time this season and 38^th outing of his career.
Swiped 183 career steals, which sits him in 6th place on the school's all-time steals list.
47 of his 65 games with multiple assists and 46 of 64 games with 5+ rebounds occurring during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons.

Dashawn Davis

Started his 20th game of the season and 48 of his 61 games in the Maroon and White.
Racked up a season-high 16 points 5-of-8 shooting coupled with 3-of-5 marks on three's and at the foul line.
Added 10+ points for the 9th time in 2023-24 and the 35th outing of his career.
Double figures in back-to-back games since closing out the non-conference portion of the schedule with 13 points versus Rutgers (12/22) and 12 points against Bethune-Cookman (12/31).
Sank 3 triples which is his 8th outing this season with multiple treys made.

D.J Jeffries

Made his 22nd start of the season and has started in 87 of 96 games as a Bulldog.
Put up 9 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks during today's contest.
Hauled in 5+ rebounds for the 17th game in 2023-24 and the 70th outing of his career.
The 8 rebounds give Jeffries 522 for his career in the Maroon and White as he sits at 34th place on the program's all-time list.
Collected multiple steals for the 5th outing of 2023-24 and the 31st time in his career.

Bench

Shakeel Moore and Jimmy Bell Jr. secured 2 points apiece to round out the scoring.

Mississippi State University Athletics

Postgame Notes: State vs. No. 17 South Carolina

Players Mentioned

Jimmy Bell Jr.

Dashawn Davis

Josh Hubbard

Cameron Matthews

Shakeel Moore

Tolu Smith III

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