Josh Hubbard scored 25 points and Claudell Harris Jr. added 15, hitting three second-half 3-pointers, as No. 21 Mississippi State held off No. 7 Texas A&M 70-54 on Tuesday in Starkville, Miss.
The Bulldogs (19-7, 7-6 Southeastern Conference) trailed by a point at halftime but took charge early in the second half behind 10 points from Hubbard, going up 44-34 with 12:13 to go.
A Hubbard 3-pointer with 2:32 to play stoked Mississippi State’s lead to 15 points.
Shawn Jones Jr. canned another trey on the Bulldogs’ ensuing possession, and Mississippi State strolled to the finish line for its second straight win against a top-25 team and its third victory in the past four outings overall.
RJ Melendez scored 10 points for the Bulldogs, who tied their season best with 17 steals on the night and held the visitors to 28 percent shooting from the floor in the second half.
Zhuric Phelps led Texas A&M with 13 points while CJ Wilcher and Wade Taylor IV added 11 points apiece for the Aggies (20-6, 9-4), who had a five-game winning streak snapped.
The Bulldogs controlled the majority of the game’s opening minutes, using a 10-2 run capped by a layup from KeShawn Murphy to take a 15-8 lead. Wilcher shot Texas A&M back into the lead, ending a 10-0 run with his third 3-pointer of the night and giving the Aggies a 23-20 advantage.
Taylor’s 3-pointer about a minute and a half later pushed the Aggies’ lead to 27-22. Texas A&M was up by three points after Henry Coleman III hit a layup with 1:49 to go before Mississippi State’s Riley Kugel canned a pair of free throws with one second left to allow the Bulldogs to close within 31-30 at the break.
Wilcher led all scorers with 11 points before halftime, while Melendez paced Mississippi State with eight.
The Bulldogs leapfrogged to the front early in the second half, as eight points from Hubbard, including a pair of 3-pointers, created a 38-34 lead. A jumper by Melendez, two free throws by Hubbard and a basket from Murphy while the Aggies missed eight consecutive shots from the field stoked the lead to 10 points.
–Field Level Media
