STARKVILLE, Miss. — Josh Hubbard scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half and Cameron Matthews had 14 points and 11 rebounds as Mississippi State beat No. 8 Auburn 64-58 on Saturday.
DJ Jeffries made three of four free throws in the final 11 seconds and grabbed 12 rebounds to help seal the victory for Mississippi State (14-6, 3-4 SEC). Shakeel Moore scored 12 points and Tolu Smith added nine points and eight rebounds.
Saturday's win was the Bulldogs' second over a top-10 team, after beating Tennessee earlier in the season. It's the first time they've defeated multiple top-10 teams in a season since 2001-02, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
It is also the fifth win by an unranked SEC team against an AP top-10 opponent in conference play this season, tied for second in the SEC in the last 15 seasons, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Johni Broome scored 14 points and Jaylin Williams added 10 to lead Auburn (16-4, 5-2).
“We barely practiced on Thursday,” Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans said. “We just felt like we were going to try to relax a little bit and Friday wasn't as long with so many physical segments. We tried to convince them that they were fresher for the game. I don't know if it helped or not, but I felt like we played like we should play to win the game”.
It was Hubbard's first start of the season and the first start of his college career. He was 7 of 16 from the field and added three rebounds. He is currently the SEC's leading freshman scorer at 14.9 points per game.
Hubbard said his approach didn't really change in his first career start.
“Coach Jans always tells us that the starting lineups are just the starters for the game,” he said. “We have great depth and we know that a lot of people on our team are going to play. The only difference is that they call me first. So I still had the same mentality and nothing is going to change as far as my way of thinking.” or something like that.”
Tied at halftime, Auburn trailed for much of the second half until a three-point play by Tre Donaldson gave the Tigers a 46-45 lead with 7:51 left. But that would be Auburn's last lead of the game.
Matthews recovered his missed free throw and scored to give Mississippi State a 53-49 lead with 3:50 left in the second half. Auburn cut the lead to 55-54, only to see a Hubbard three-pointer extend the lead to 58-54 with 1:37 left. The Bulldogs then made five of six free throws in the final 32.6 seconds to secure the victory.
For the game, Auburn was held to 34% shooting from the field, including 25% (6 of 24) from 3-point range. Auburn was 14 of 16 at the foul line and had 14 turnovers.
After a 5-0 start in SEC play and a top-10 ranking appearance, Auburn has lost two straight in league play. The Tigers lost to rival Alabama on Wednesday.
“Mississippi State played great defense the entire game,” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said. “We played good defense in the first half, but in the second half, even though we were better offensively, we let them get so many second-chance points. I thought we did a good job defending Tolu Smith. If you had told him 'If we came here and If we could limit Tolú to just six shots, I would tell you we have a fighting chance. And we did it.”
Mississippi State shot 44% for the game and was just 9 of 18 at the foul line. The Bulldogs had 14 turnovers and outrebounded the Tigers 45-30, including 14 offensive rebounds.
The teams were embroiled in a defensive struggle in the first half. Mississippi State took a 15-10 lead on a Matthews dunk with 7:57 left in the half. Neither team scored in the final 2:45 and they entered halftime tied 21-21.
Auburn shot 28% in the first half and was 2 of 10 on 3-pointers. Mississippi State shot 32% in the first half and was 1 of 12 on 3-pointers. The Bulldogs outrebounded the Tigers 27-14, including 11 offensive rebounds.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
