Josh Hubbard made a school single-game record 10 3-pointers and scored a career-high 46 points as Mississippi State withstood a furious second-half rally by Auburn to defeat the Tigers, 91-85, in Starkville on Wednesday.
Jayden Epps scored all 13 of his points in the second half, while Shawn Jones Jr. added 12 points and five rebounds for the Bulldogs (13-13, 5-8 Southeastern Conference), which won its second straight after losing eight of nine.
Mississippi State ended a five-game skid at home at the Humphrey Coliseum.
Hubbard, who had scored 30-plus points in each of his last two games, came out on fire. He reached double digits just 6:30 into the contest as the Bulldogs jumped out to a 21-6 lead and would finish the first half with 35 points, two more than Auburn (14-12, 5-8).
Keyshawn Hall, who served a one-game suspension and missed Saturday’s loss to Arkansas, had a team-high 29 points and 10 rebounds for the Tigers, who lost their fifth straight game overall and third consecutive road contest.
Hall had the team’s first eight points. Tahaad Pettiford scored midway through the first half, but he did most of his damage in the second, scoring 16 of his 21 points after the break.
Mississippi State stretched a 16-point halftime lead to 18 when Epps scored his first points of the game on a 3-pointer, but Auburn responded with a 17-1 run and took its first lead of the game with 8:50 remaining on a KeShawn Murphy bucket. He had seven points and a team-high 11 rebounds.
There were eight lead changes and four tied the rest of the way. Hubbard, who shot 72% (13-18) from the field, including 75% (9-12) from beyond the arc in the first half, missed his first seven field-goal attempts after the break.
He went 6-for-7 from the foul line in the second half to set his career mark, but he wasn’t through just yet.
After Auburn took an 80-73 lead, the Bulldogs closed the game on an 18-5 run. Hubbard evened the game up at 82 with a layup with 1:11 left.
Then, after Hall made 1 of 2 free throws to give the Tigers the lead again, Hubbard made his 10th and final 3-pointer of the game, and his only one in the second half, to give Mississippi State a lead it would not relinquish.
The two-time All-SEC guard, who leads the conference in scoring this season, already had the school’s career record for 3-pointers before adding the single-game mark. Hubbard also led the Bulldogs with nine rebounds.
Kevin Overton scored 11 of 15 points in the second half for Auburn.
–Field Level Media
