Josh Hubbard tied his career high with 38 points that included a huge 3-pointer late in regulation and the deciding free throws in overtime as Mississippi State outlasted Texas 101-98 on Saturday in the teams’ Southeastern Conference opener in Austin, Texas.
Jayden Epps added 27 points and Achor Achor had 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Bulldogs (9-5, 1-0 SEC), who have captured a season-best five straight games.
Dailyn Swain produced a career-high 34 points and 14 rebounds for Texas (9-5, 0-1 SEC) before fouling out with 1:42 to play in the second half. Tramon Mark added 20 points for the Longhorns and Matas Vokietaitis had 19 as Texas had a two-game winning streak snapped.
The Bulldogs finished regulation with a 7-0 run and added to that when Hubbard scored to start overtime. He then added a 3-point play with 2:05 left to expand Mississippi State’s lead to 96-90.
Texas knotted the game at 96 when Mark hit a 3-pointer and then stole the ball from Hubbard and drove the floor for a layup, the latter with 51 seconds to play. Hubbard answered with a clutch jumper from beyond the arc to put the Bulldogs up by three.
Mark followed by making one of two free throws on consecutive trips to the line and Hubbard finished off his night — and the Longhorns’ — with two from the charity stripe with six seconds remaining.
The Longhorns trailed 48-43 at halftime, but battled their way to the front by as many as seven points when Swain converted a 3-point play with 2:17 remaining. Mississippi State responded by scoring the final seven points of regulation, capped by Brandon Walker’s putback with 17 seconds left, to send the game to the extra period at 86-86.
Both teams had ragged starts as the Bulldogs built an 11-6 lead when Epps canned a 3-point attempt four minutes into the game. Texas answered by going in front, 12-11, with a Vokietaitis dunk at the 14:29 mark that triggered four lead changes in a 94-second span.
Hubbard ‘s five free throws down the stretch allowed Mississippi State to carry a 48-43 advantage into the break.
Hubbard hit for 20 to lead all scorers in the first half. Swain paced Texas’ attack with 18 points over the first 20 minutes.
–Field Level Media
