BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Josh Hubbard made six 3-pointers and scored a career-high 32 points, and Mississippi State rolled to an 87-67 victory over LSU on Saturday night for its fifth straight win.
Hubbard was 9-of-17 shooting overall, made half of his 12 3-point attempts and all eight of his free throws. Tolu Smith added 19 points and KeShawn Murphy scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Mississippi State (19-8, 8-6 SEC).
Trae Hannibal scored 22 points to lead LSU (14-13, 6-8). Jordan Wright added 14 points.
Mississippi State took the lead for good with about four minutes remaining in the first half, ending on an 11-4 surge for a 40-33 halftime advantage. Two 3s and a Cameron Matthews dunk during a 9-2 spurt stretched the Bulldogs’ lead to 60-44 with 12:10 to play. LSU pulled to 60-49 with 10 minutes left but didn’t get closer.
Hubbard scored 19 second-half points for the Bulldogs, who shot just 37% in the first half but 59% in the second. Hubbard surpassed his previous career-high 29 points on a 3-pointer from deep with 2:29 remaining. Trey Fort’s emphatic dunk off a fast break with 14.6 seconds left ended the Bulldogs’ scoring.
Each team hosts a game on Tuesday. Mississippi State faces No. 17 Kentucky while LSU plays Georgia.
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