Postgame Notes: No. 25 State at Arkansas

TEAM NOTES

No. 25 Mississippi State was handed a 93-92 defeat at Arkansas during the regular season finale for both teams on Saturday morning at Bud Walton Arena.
The back-and-forth affair featured seven ties and 16 lead changes.
The Bulldogs finished the regular season with a 20-11 record and an 8-10 mark in SEC play.
State will be seeded No. 10 at next week's SEC Tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The Bulldogs are slated to face LSU during Wednesday's first round action with tipoff set for 6 p.m. CT televised by SEC Network.
The win for the Razorbacks ended State's two-game winning streak under Coach Jans and gave Arkansas an overall 36-34 series edge.
The Razorbacks took a 45-44 lead going into the locker room following nine lead changes during the opening 20 minutes. Neither team led by more than six points in the first half.
Arkansas ripped off 10 consecutive points to start the second half and made it 25 of the stanza's first 35 points to build a 70-54 advantage at the 11:41 mark.
A key for the Razorbacks taking the 16-point spread was hitting on 12 of their first 14 shot attempts to begin the second half.
State chipped away and got within single digits at 81-72 with 6:15 remaining after a RJ Melendez three-pointer.
The Bulldogs kept pushing and used a 12-0 flurry to go up 84-83 on a Riley Kugel corner trey off an inbounds play with 3:14 left.
The closing minutes featured five lead changes of its own. Arkansas' DJ Wagner and State's Josh Hubbard exchanged three-pointers inside the final minute to knot the score at 92-92.
Arkansas regained a 93-92 edge as Jonas Aidoo split a pair of free throws with 11 seconds to go. On the ensuing possession, State was unable to convert as a Melendez tipin attempt off a Kugel miss rimmed out as time expired to give the Razorbacks the one-point decision.
State forced 10 of the game's 12 turnovers and converted on 19 of the contest's 23 points off miscues.
The two turnovers were the lowest game turnover total for the Maroon and White dating back to at least 1979-80 season.
The Bulldogs had six players register double figures for the second straight outing. However, State dropped to 7-3 this season when having at least five players capture double digit points.
State tallied five steals to bring its season total to 283 which is the most in program history through 31 games.
The Bulldogs got out in transition and converted 18 of the game's 24 fastbreak points.
As a team, State connected on 32-of-73 from the field (43.8 percent), recorded a 12-of-32 clip from three point-territory (37.5 percent) and was 16-of-21 on its foul shots (76.2 percent).
The Bulldogs fell to 18-4 this season and 55-17 over the last three seasons under Coach Jans when shooting at least 40.0 percent.
State has drained 256 three-pointers this season which sits at fourth-best in program history through 31 games.
The Bulldogs have hit double-digit triples on 10 occasions this season and gone 7-3 in those contests.
Conversely, Arkansas recorded a 31-for-56 shooting effort (55.4 percent), hit on a 9-for-21 three-point clip (42.9 percent), and knocked down 22-27 at the charity stripe (81.5 percent).

PLAYER NOTES

Josh Hubbard

Started his 45th consecutive game over the last two seasons.
Notched 17 points, four assists and sank all six of his free throws.
The four assists enabled Hubbard to surpass 100 assists for the season. He is the sixth player at State to have over 500 points and 100 assists during the same season.
The 17-point performance gives Hubbard 1164 career points which kept him in 32nd place on the program's all-time scoring list.
Hubbard continues to build on the most points scored by a State player during their freshman and sophomore seasons in program history.
The 1164 points also are the third-most in program history through 66 career games trailing only Bailey Howell (1957-58-59) and Jerry Jenkins (1973-74-75).
Buried at least one trey in 44 straight games dating back to the Georgia game on 02/07/2024. The 44-game run is the longest streak in program history.
Knocked down multiple triples in 27 of 31 games this season and in 56 of 66 career games.
His three triples bring his career total to 203 which sits at 6th place in program history.
Dished out multiple assists in 28 out of 31 games this season and in 46 career outings.

Riley Kugel

Started in seven straight games, in 11 games total this season and for the 40th time during his career.
Added 12 points to go along with three boards and an assist.
Powered home double-digit points for the 16th occasion this season and for the 45th time during his career.
State falls to 11-5 this season when Kugel provides 10+ points.
Drained multiple for the 11th time this season and the 33rd outing of his career.

RJ Melendez

Made his 26th start in State's last 27 games and his 52nd start in 121 career games.
Secured his 10 points, three rebounds and a block.
His 16th outing with 10+ points for State and his 44th career effort in double figures.
State is 10-6 this season and teams that R.J. Melendez are a part of are 27-17 when he scores 10+ points.
Buried multiple trifectas in nine games this season and in 27 career outings.

Cameron Matthews

Started in 97 of the team's last 100 games over the last three seasons under Coach Jans.
Competed in his program-leading 164th game.
Began the scoring by converting an and-one layup.
Has a cumulative +/- total of +655 over his last three seasons under Coach Jans.
Added 13 points to make it back-to-back games in double figures.
His 8th performance this season and 34th career effort with 10+ points.
State dropped to 23-11 overall when Matthews provides double figures.
Tied a team-high with six boards, distributed four assists and collected three steals.
Brought his career steal total to 269 as he continues to build on his school record which he set during the McNeese game on 12/14.
His six rebounds moved his career total to 851 which allows him to surpass Tyrone Washington (1996-97-98-99) for eighth place on State's all-time list.
Had two or more assists in 28 out of 31 games this season and in 97 career outings.
Grabbed at least five boards in 26 out of 31 games this season and in 93 career games.
Swiped multiple steals in 24 out of 31 outings this season and in 78 career games.

Michael Nwoko

Made his 28th straight start and his 30th career start between State and Miami over the last two seasons.
Tucked away nine points, two rebounds, two dimes and a block.
Notched his fourth career game with multiple dimes, all coming at State this season.

BENCH NOTES

Claudell Harris Jr. and KeShawn Murphy collected all 31 of State's bench points.
Harris Jr. pumped home a team-leading 18 points fueled by four triples.
Notched his fourth performance over the last seven games coming off the bench, his 16th game of the season and his 87th career outing with double figures.
State drops to 12-4 when Harris Jr. reaches 10+ points/
Knocked down at least one trey in 22 of the team's last 24 games.
Buried multiple trifectas in 19 games this season and in 78 career games.
KeShawn Murphy collected 13 points, tied a team-high six boards and secured a block.
Notched his 19th game of 2024-25 and his 25th career game in double figures.
State fell to 11-8 this season and 16-8 over the last three seasons when he comes away with 10+ points.
Grabbed at least five rebounds in 26 out of 31 games this season and in 34 career games.
Shawn Jones Jr. garnered two rebounds, two assists, two takeaways and a block in the effort.
Recorded multiple steals for the eighth time this season and the 17th game in his career.
Tallied multiple dimes for the sixth time this season and the 17th outing of his career.
Dellquan Warren also added two assists and a rebound.
His eight outing with multiple assists.

Mississippi State University Athletics

Postgame Notes: No. 25 State at Arkansas

Players Mentioned

Cameron Matthews

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