By SCOTT FELTS
The Tennessee Volunteers looked to bounce back from a second tough SEC defeat at the hands of Kentucky when they traveled to Starkville to play the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Wednesday night.
The Volunteers (17–7, 7–4) played their most balanced offensive game of the conference season in a 73-64 win over the Bulldogs (11–13, 3–8). Nine different Vols scored and three reached double digits in a game where the Vols survived a second half 18-0 run by the Bulldogs.
Let’s dig deeper into this win by going Beyond the Box Score.
Hot Hand Hubbard: Junior guard Josh Hubbard came in leading Mississippi State with 20.6 points per game and 3.6 assists per game. Hubbard nearly reached his average in points in the first half, scoring 20 of the 28 for Mississippi State and 17 of its first 20 points of the game. After colliding knees with the Vols’ DeWayne Brown II late in the second half, Hubbard was never the same but still finished with 31 points on 13-for-24 shooting.
Defense Wins: Tennessee is first in the SEC in scoring defense (69.8), first in the SEC in field goal percentage defense (40.4) and second in the SEC in 3-point percentage defense (29.6). On Wednesday, every Mississippi State Bulldog not named Hubbard shot a combined 3 of 17 (17.7%) from the field and 1-of-7 (14.3%) from 3 in the first half. The 18-0 second half run helped the Bulldogs’ numbers but for the game, non-Hubbard players still finished 12 of 36 (33.3%) and 3-for-15 (20%) from 3.
Help Me, Help You: Tennessee’s 17.5 assists per game ranks third in the SEC and 30th in the country. Bishop Boswell missed his first five shots of the game, but managed eight of the Vols’ 19 assists on Wednesday night. Two other players (Nate Ament and Ja’Kobi Gillespie) logged five assists each.
Rebound Kings: Tennessee is second in the SEC and fourth in the nation in rebounds per game (43.13) and rebound margin (13.1). The Vols are also second in the SEC and the country in offensive rebounds per game (15.91), and fourth in the SEC and 35th in the nation in defensive rebounds per game (27.22). UT’s 45.2 offensive rebounding percentage is on pace to be the third best this century according to KenPom. On Wednesday, five Vols had six or more rebounds in the game and they finished with a 45- 31 rebound advantage and 12 to 7 on the offensive side.
Free Throw Discrepancy: Tennessee is fifth in the SEC and 26th in the nation in free throws attempted (25.3) per game but just 14th in the SEC and 279th in the country in free-throw percentage (69.2%). On Wednesday the discrepancy was that the Vols didn’t struggle from the line at all, hitting 9 of 11 in the first half on the way to a 15-for-18 (83%) performance.
Up Next: Tennessee hosts LSU (14-10, 2-9) on Saturday at 6 PM on the SEC Network. The Tigers are coming off a 29-point loss against Arkansas.
Tip Ins: Tennessee is 17–5 in its last 22 games against Mississippi State since January 2013. … Boswell has seven or more rebounds in each of the last five games and he entered the week ninth in SEC league play with 6.7 per game.