Playing in Utah’s backyard in Salt Lake City, Mississippi State rallied from a 17-point deficit to stun the Utes 82-74 on Saturday night.
Ja’Borri McGhee scored 19 of his team-leading 29 points in the second half, while Utah didn’t make a basket for the final 6:07 of the game.
Jayden Epps scored 13 of his 20 points in the final 20 minutes, and Josh Hubbard, the Bulldogs’ leading scorer, overcame an ankle injury to score 11 of his 13 points in the second half as Mississippi State (5-5) outscored Utah 50-32.
Don McHenry’s 29 points lead Utah (7-4). McHenry made five 3-pointers and Terrence Brown added 22 points. They were the only two Utes in double figures.
The Bulldogs trailed 40-23 with 2:47 to play in the first half, but tied the game at 56 with an Epps layup and took the lead on two McGhee free throws midway through the second half.
Utah led 52-37 on a Brown dunk with 16:58 to play. But things unraveled quickly, as Mississippi State went on a 15-0 run that turned an 11-point deficit into a four-point Bulldogs lead.
McGhee and Hubbard took over Mississippi State’s offense down the stretch, both players aggressively attacking the basket and hitting clutch shots.
McHenry scored 11 consecutive Utah points in the first half, helping build a four-point Utes lead to a 12-point advantage after his layup at the 8:59 mark.
McHenry had 15 points in the first half.
The win for coach Chris Jans represented the biggest comeback victory for the Bulldogs in Jans’ tenure, which began in 2022.
Epps appeared to injure a hand in the second half, but played through the pain, his two layups inside of 30 seconds to play sealing Mississippi State’s win.
–Field Level Media
