Josh Hubbard has etched his name into Mississippi State lore, and he will look to help the Bulldogs remain unbeaten when they face Xavier on Friday night in the Greenbrier Tip-Off in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.
Hubbard became the fourth player in Mississippi State history to reach 2,000 career points when he scored 14 in Monday’s 98-57 home rout of Jackson State. He is 12 points away from passing Quinndary Weatherspoon (2,012) for third place in school history.
“It means a lot; I didn’t know about it until (Sunday),” Hubbard said. “I wasn’t really thinking about it. But huge accomplishment. I’m grateful for it.”
The school paid tribute to Hubbard during a timeout. Besides Weatherspoon, the players ahead of Hubbard on the scoring list are former six-time NBA All-Star Bailey Howell (2,030) and former two-time NBA All-Star Jeff Malone (2,142).
“It was definitely emotional for all the hard work I put in,” Hubbard said of the in-game recognition.
Hubbard leads the Bulldogs (3-0) in scoring (18 points per game) and assists (5.0). King Grace is second on the squad with a 13.7 scoring average.
Mississippi State won its first three games by an average of 32.3 points, but coach Chris Jans is wary of the Musketeers (3-0), who possess a winning margin of 37.7 points and have held opponents to 28.4% field-goal shooting.
“We haven’t played a team that has that much size, length and girth,” Jans said. “The court is going to feel smaller.”
Xavier defeated a team by 45 points for the second time this season when it walloped visiting Detroit Mercy 100-55 on Tuesday.
Now the Musketeers will face their first true test of the season.
“We will really learn a lot about ourselves,” Xavier coach Richard Pitino said. “Coach Jans is a terrific coach, and they have one of the top scorers in the country.
“Now we go to West Virginia and see if we can get a tough one on Friday.”
Chance Westry leads the Musketeers with a 14.3 scoring average while playing 18.9 minutes per game off the bench. Mike Nwoko averages 12 points and Jovan Milicevic 10.3.
Xavier has 43 steals through three games.
“I would give a big shout-out to the guards,” said Nwoko, who scored 17 points against Detroit Mercy. “They are always pressuring the ball and making our lives a whole lot easier. As for the bigs, rebounding and contesting shots and making it hard for other teams to make shots. It’s a team effort at the end of the day, and I think we’ve bought into being a defensive team.”
Xavier’s lone win in five meetings with Mississippi State was an 89-74 triumph in the second round of the 2004 NCAA Tournament.
–Field Level Media
