Cowbell Corner

Mississippi State pulls away in second half to beat Oklahoma 72-53

A strong second half lifts Mississippi State to a 72-53 win over Oklahoma after an uneven opening 20 minutes.
Taylor Hodges|
Mississippi State center Quincy Ballard puts up a shot during Wednesday's SEC game against Oklahoma in Starkville.
Mississippi State center Quincy Ballard puts up a shot during Wednesday's SEC game against Oklahoma in Starkville. | Mississippi State Athletics

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Mississippi State BulldogsOklahoma Sooners

Scores can be deceptive about how a game was played.

For example, Mississippi State and Oklahoma scored a combined 54 points in the first and neither side shot better than 34 percent from the field.

A low scoring game like that would lead one to think the Bulldogs and Sooners played a defensive battle in the first half. Those people would be wrong.

The first half featured nine total turnovers and only three assists. Mississippi State was 0-for-12 from beyond the arch and Oklahoma had only two.

It wasn’t a great offensive performance for either team Wednesday night, but the Bulldogs was able to find its groove in the second half, outscoring the Sooners 45-26 and almost 52 percent from the field to secure a 72-53 win.

Mississippi State junior Josh Hubbard followed up a 38-point outing Saturday against Texas with 30 points against Oklahoma, including 16 in the second half. Impressively, he did that while making one three-pointer.

Hubbard certainly played a role in the Bulldogs pulling away in the second half, but there was a clear turning point that put them up for good.

Turning Point

Mississippi State did improve its shooting percentage in the second (51.9 percent in second half), but neither team started draining buckets left and right.

The problem for the Sooners was there was nearly eight minutes in the second half they couldn’t score a field goal. In fact, they scored just one point that time frame.

Tae Davis put Oklahoma ahead 38-35 with almost 16 minutes left in the second half, but the Sooners didn’t score another point for nearly five minutes and missed 10-straight field goals to fall behind 51-43 with 8:27 left to play.

That run for the Bulldogs sealed a win that felt certain when Hubbard scored back-to-back step-back jumpers with four minutes left in the game and a 65-49 lead.

From there, Mississippi State cruised to a 72-53 win.

Top Performers

  • Points: Josh Hubbard, 30 (11-22 FG)
  • Rebounds: Achor Achor, 14 (4 off.)
  • Assists: Josh Hubbard, 3
  • Steals: Shaw Jones Jr., 3
  • Blocks: Shaw Jones Jr./Jamarion Davis-Fleming, 2

Next Up

Mississippi State will be on the road for its next SEC contest on Saturday. The Bulldogs will head to Lexington, Ky. to face Kentucky (9-5, 0-2 SEC). Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and will be televised on SEC Network.

The Wildcats lost to Missouri for the first time on its home court Wednesday, 73-68 to fall to 0-2 in SEC play.

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Taylor Hodges
TAYLOR HODGES

Award-winning sports editor, writer, columnist, and photographer with 15 years’ experience offering his opinion and insight about the sports world in Mississippi and Texas, but he was taken to Razorback pep rallies at Billy Bob's Texas in Fort Worth before he could walk. Taylor has covered all levels of sports, from small high schools in the Mississippi Delta to NFL games. Follow Taylor on Twitter and Facebook.

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