Postgame Notes: No. 22 State vs. No. 3 Florida

TEAM NOTES

No. 22 Mississippi State was handed an 81-68 defeat by No. 3 Florida on Tuesday night at Humphrey Coliseum.
The Bulldogs dropped to 17-7 overall and 5-6 in conference play.
All six of State's SEC losses are versus ranked opponents with five of the six setbacks coming against Associated Press Top 10 competition.
Florida has won three of the last four in the series over the last three seasons and extend its series advantage to 69-53.
The Bulldogs fell to 13-1 this season and 47-6 over the last three seasons under Coach Jans when leading at halftime.
Florida began the second half with 17 consecutive points to turn a 34-33 deficit into a 50-34 lead with 15:09 remaining.
State won the rebounding battle by a 43-32 margin. However, the Bulldogs fell to 11-2 in 2024-25 and 45-14 under Coach Jans over the last three seasons when outrebounding its opponent.
The Josh Hubbard, Claudell Harris Jr, RJ Melendez, Cameron Matthews and Michael Nwoko combination started its 14th consecutive game, its 15th overall outing of 2024-25 and fell to 9-6 on the season.
The Bulldogs are 13-3 this season and 50-16 over the last three seasons under Coach Jans when shooting at least 40.0 percent.
State got out in transition and cashed in 12 of the game's 23 fastbreak points.
The Bulldogs fired in 15 of their 24 field goals on the interior en route to a 30-26 advantage in paint points.
State grabbed 12 offensive rebounds which led to 11 of the game's 20 second chance points.
As a team, State connected on 24-of-58 from the field (41.4 percent), recorded a 7-of-27 clip from three point-territory (25.9 percent) and was 13-of-19 on its foul shots (68.4 percent).
The Bulldogs have now drained 199 three pointers this season which sits at third best in program history through 24 games.
Conversely, Florida recorded a 28-for-61 shooting effort (45.9 percent), hit on a 14-for-36 three-point clip (38.9 percent) and knocked down 11-17 at the charity stripe (64.7 percent).

PLAYER NOTES

Josh Hubbard

Started his 38th consecutive game over the last two seasons.
Notched a team-high 19 points, tied a season's best with six assists and added two steals.
Collected double figures for a team-leading 23rd time this season and for the 32nd time during his last 33 outings.
Recorded 1020 points for his career, which is the most points scored by a State player during their freshmen and sophomore seasons in program history.
The 1020 points also the third-most in program history through 59 career games.
Hubbard sits at 43rd place in program history for career scoring. He is 16 points away from passing Aric Holman (2016-17-18-19) for 42nd place.
State is 7-1 this season and 7-2 over the last three seasons when he dishes out 5+ assists.
Knocked down multiple triples in 21 of 24 games this season and in 50 of 59 career games.
His four treys bring his career total to 185 which sits 9th in program history. He is three shy from eclipsing Quinndary Weatherspoon (2016-17-18-19) for 8th place.
Buried at least one trey in 37 straight games dating back to the Georgia game on 02/07/2024.
The 37-game run is the 2nd longest streak in program history. He is three games away from breaking the program's record held by Darryl Wilson in 1994-95 and 1995-96.
Swiped multiple steals for the 6th time this season and the 11th time in his career.
Led State in scoring in 14 out of 24 games this season and 25 of his 40 career starts.

Claudell Harris Jr.

Made his 14th consecutive start, his 17th start this season and the 81st start of his career.
Added six points and three rebounds.
Connected on a three-pointer in 17 consecutive games.

RJ Melendez

Made his 18th start in State's last 19 games and his 45th start over 114 career games.
Provided three points to go along with a career-high four blocks and four rebounds.
His first outing this season and fifth of his career with multiple rejections.

Cameron Matthews

Started in 90 of the team's last 93 games over the last three seasons under Coach Jans.
Competed in his school-record 157th game.
Added five points, seven rebounds, four dimes and a steal.
The seven rebounds enabled him to bring his career total to 806 which ties him with Abdul Ado (2018-19-20-21) for 10th all time.
Brought his career total to 252 steals as he continues to build on his school record which he set during the McNeese game on 12/14.
Had two or more assists in 21 out of 24 games this season and in 90 career outings.
Grabbed at least five boards in 19 out of 24 games this season and in 86 career games.

Michael Nwoko

Made his 21st straight start and his 23rd career start between State and Miami over the last two seasons.
Began the game's scoring on an and-one driving layup and converted a three point play.
Recorded five points and six rebounds.
Registered 12 of his 17 outings with 5+ rebounds this season.

BENCH NOTES

State outscored Florida in bench points by a 30-22 margin.
The Bulldogs have bested their opponent in bench points during 16 of 24 games this season.
KeShawn Murphy dialed up 18 points and hauled down 13 rebounds to notch his fourth double-double of the season.
All four of his double-doubles have come during the 2024-25 season.
The Bulldogs dropped to 3-1 when Murphy garners a double-double.
Turned in double figures in seven of the last eight games, 14 outings this season and in 20 career games.
State is 10-4 this season and 15-5 over the last three seasons when Murphy comes away with 10+ points.
Riley Kugel chipped in seven points, four rebounds and two assists.
Distributed multiple assists on eight occasions in 2024-25 and for the 30th time in his career.
Shawn Jones Jr. rounded out the scoring with five points.

Mississippi State University Athletics

Postgame Notes: No. 22 State vs. No. 3 Florida

Players Mentioned

Cameron Matthews

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