TUPELO – Mississippi State suffered its fifth loss of the season at Cadence Bank Arena on Sunday. San Francisco took down the Bulldogs 65-62, but the bigger loss may be that of the team’s leading scorer.
The Bulldogs lost star shooting guard Josh Hubbard to an ankle injury just a few minutes into the game. He rolled his right ankle while backpedaling to get back on defense, making slight contact with teammate Shawn Jones Jr. and going down in pain.
Hubbard was helped off the floor by staff, but returned after halftime with a wrap around his foot and walking on his own. He would not return to action, however, and the Bulldogs had to make do without his prolific scoring.
San Francisco took advantage of MSU’s lineup reshuffle, taking a 30-22 lead into the halftime break. The Bulldogs were able to pick up the pace in the second half, though. Guards Jayden Epps and Ja’Borri McGhee came to life to reach double digits, with Epps hitting a pair of three-pointers to keep the game close in the final minutes.
Brandon Walker, who made his second start in a row, also came in clutch down the stretch. He made a pair of layups through contact as well as a free throw.
Walker’s trip to the line in the final seconds saw him miss the second attempt, but Jamarion Davis-Fleming gave the Bulldogs a 62-61 lead with a putback on the miss. It was MSU’s first lead of the game with 25 seconds to play. The Dons had a chance to retake the lead with nine seconds to play, with Mookie Cook heading to the line and hitting both for a 63-62 advantage.
Jans used a timeout to draw up a play with the game on the line, but San Francisco intercepted the inbounds and dunked. Epps put up a prayer at the buzzer but missed.
Posted in College Sports
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 53 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.