Postgame Notes: State vs. South Carolina

TEAM NOTES

Mississippi State was unable to continue its winning ways as South Carolina emerged with a 97-89 decision over the Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon at Colonial Life Arena.
The Maroon and White scored the game's opening six points when Jayden Epps hits a floater in the lane, Josh Hubbard found Quincy Ballard for a dunk and Hubbard converted a layup courtesy of a Shawn Jones Jr. steal.
Carolina would turn the contest in its favor after hitting 10 consecutive baskets and 14 of its final 18 shots during the last 11:38 of the stanza as the Gamecocks took a 46-39 advantage into the locker room.
Carolina would lead the rest of the way and kept the Bulldogs at arm's length for a majority of the second half.
State pulled to within 4 points on two occasions, the latest at 77-73 at the 5:16 mark. The Gamecocks answered with six straight points to stretch the spread back into double-digits.
Carolina hit 6-of-8 at the line over the last 80 seconds to close out the 8-point decision and end its 7-game losing streak.
State had five players secure double figures for the first time this season: Quincy Ballard (15), Jayden Epps (13), Josh Hubbard (13), Ja'Borri McGhee (12) and Sergej Macura (10)
The Bulldogs dropped to 8-4 over the last four seasons under Coach Jans when five players reach double figures.
State secured 15 of the game's 19 offensive rebounds to claim a 37-32 rebounding edge. The Bulldogs piled up 23 of the game's 29 points on second-chance opportunities.
The Bulldogs are 9-5 this season and 57-20 over the last four seasons under Coach Jans when outrebounding its opponent.
State is 2-5 this season and 29-17 under Coach Jans during day games.
State sank 31-of-69 from the floor (44.9 percent), hit on 10-of-33 from three-point territory (30.3 percent) and connected on a 17-of-30 clip at the free throw line (56.7 percent).
State is 13-9 this season and 69-27 over the last four seasons under Coach Jans when shooting 40.0 percent or higher.
State is 7-2 this season and 19-8 under the last four seasons under Coach Jans when knocking down at least 10 or more three-pointers in a game.
State falls to 8-4 this season and 42-16 over the last four seasons under Coach Jans when making 15 or more free throws.
Conversely, South Carolina recorded a 31-of-56 shooting effort (55.4 percent), made 12-of-24 of its three-pointers (50.0 percent) and tallied a 23-for-27 mark at the charity stripe (85.2 percent).
The 55.4 shooting percentage, the12 three's and the 23 foul shots all were SEC season's best for the Gamecocks.

PLAYER NOTES

Josh Hubbard

Started his 77th consecutive game over the past three seasons (01/27/2024-02/21/2026).
Provided 13 points where he was limited to 4-of-20 from the field, 2-of-12 from beyond the three-point line and 3-of-5 from the free-throw line.
Notched double figures for a team-leading 25th time this season and for the 88th time over his 96 career games.
The 88 games with 10+ points allowed Hubbard to pass Dee Bost (2009-10-11-12) for 6th place in the State record book.
The junior guard now has 1835 career points and sits 4 points shy from passing Rickey Brown (1976-77-78-79) for 5th place on the program's all-time list.
The 1835 points also allowed Hubbard to remain in 7th place on the SEC scoring list for players after their junior season. He enters the Alabama game 8 points shy of eclipsing Jamal Mashburn (Kentucky).
Heads into the Alabama game 5 points and 3 assists shy of his 2nd consecutive season with 600 points and 100 assists. Hubbard is the only State player in program history to accomplish the feat.
The 2 treys enabled Hubbard to extend his program record. He now has 296 career three's and is 11 triples shy of entering the SEC's top 10.
Drained multiple three's for the 19th time this season and the 78th time in his career.
Dished out multiple assists for the 25th time this season and the 73rd time in his career.

Jayden Epps

Made his 4th consecutive, his 18th start this season and his 79th career start between Illinois, Georgetown and State.
Provided 13 points where he shot for 5-of-10 from the field and 3-of-6 from three-point range before he exited the game with an injury late in the 1st half.
Opened up scoring with a driving floater in the lane.
Recorded double-digits for the 19th time in his last 24 outings and for the 81st time during his career.
Drained multiple three's for the 6th time in his last 9 games (01/21-02/21), the 14th time this season and the 56th time in his career.

Shawn Jones Jr.

Appeared in State's starting five for the 24th time in 27 games this season and for the 37th time of his career.
Recorded 6 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals.
Grabbed 5+ rebounds for the 12th time this season and for the 22nd time in his career.
Drained multiple three's for the 5th time this season and for the 16th time in his career.
Swiped multiple steals for the 11th time this season and the 30th time in his career.
His 2 steals brought his career total to 103 and into a tie for 30th place with Marckell Patterson (1999-2000-01-02) on State's all-time list.

Achor Achor

Started his 10th straight game, his 22nd game this season and the 56th game at the NCAA Division I level between Samford, Kansas State and Mississippi State.
Provided 9 points and 7 rebounds.
Grabbed 5+ rebounds for the 19th time this season and the 52nd time in his career.

Quincy Ballard

Started for the 23rd time this season and for the 90th time in his last 94 games over the last three seasons between Mississippi State and Wichita State.
Notched his 2nd double-double of the season ignited by a season's best 15 points coupled with 10 rebounds.
Tallied 10+ points for the 6th time this season and the 37th time in his career.
Grabbed 10+ rebounds for the 6th time this season and the 27th time in his career.
Collected 36 of his 37 games of 10+ points and 12 of his 14 double-doubles during the last two seasons.
Sank a season-high 6 buckets on 8 shot attempts and went 3-of-6 from the charity stripe.
Paced State in rebounding for the 7th time this season.

BENCH

State outscored the Gamecocks by a 33-22 margin from the bench.
The Bulldogs have scored more bench points than their opponent in 18 of 27 games this season where State has secured a 10-8 mark.
Ja'Borri McGhee and Sergej Macura dialed up double-digit points by scoring 12 and 10, respectively.
McGhee scored 10+ points for the 9th time this season and the 30th time in his career.
The Bulldogs are 6-3 this season, while State and UAB are a combined 22-8 when McGhee dials up double figures.
Dished out a career-high tying 7 assists and chipped in a pair of steals.
Distributed 5+ assists for the 2nd time this season and the 8th time in his career.
State and UAB fell to 6-2 over the last two seasons when McGhee hands out 5+ dimes.
Swiped multiple steals for the 5th time this season and the 18th time in his career.
Macura equaled his SEC season-high with 10 points and added 5 rebounds.
Fired in 2 of his 3 games of 10+ points against SEC opponents this season.
Grabbed 5+ rebounds for the 13th time this season.
State's freshmen King Grace (6 points) and Jamarion Davis-Fleming (5 points) rounded out the scoring for the Maroon and White.
The 2 assists for Davis-Fleming gave him a pair of assists for the 5th time this season.

Postgame Notes: State vs. South Carolina

Players Mentioned

Achor Achor

Quincy Ballard

Jamarion Davis-Fleming

Jayden Epps

King Grace

Josh Hubbard

Shawn Jones Jr.

Sergej Macura

Ja’Borri McGhee

Mississippi State University Athletics

Postgame Notes: State vs. South Carolina

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Players Mentioned

Achor Achor

Quincy Ballard

Jamarion Davis-Fleming

Jayden Epps

King Grace

Josh Hubbard

Shawn Jones Jr.

Sergej Macura

Ja’Borri McGhee

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