Mississippi State looked at home in front of the Tigers’ largest home crowd of the season, as the visiting Bulldogs smothered turnover-prone No. 23 Memphis 79-66.
Thanks to the Tigers’ turnover woes and poor shooting, the game was put out of reach early
Mississippi Guard Claudell Harris sank a three-point shot that sparked a 16-1 run with 15:35 left in the first half. The shot was bookended by a Josh Hubbard triple to put the score at 21-6 with 12:19 left in frame. Mississippi St. finished the half with a 48-32 lead.
The Bulldogs hit nine shots from deep in the first half. Memphis only hit eight overall. For the game, Memphis shot 31 percent from deep, compared to the Bulldog’s 37 percent rate.
The Tigers only managed to chip away three points from the lead in the second half.
“We are blessed to play these types of teams. This is a veteran team that has added some new pieces. We knew what we were facing when we added the game. The discouraging thing is that we did not fight as hard as we could have,” Coach Penny Hardaway said.
Memphis’ record falls to 9-3, with a 3-2 home record.
Mississippi St. was led by Junior Riley Kugel, who knocked down eight out of 11 shots to notch 19 points off the bench. Hubbard chipped in 13 points, while Olive Branch product Cameron Matthews had a balanced effort with 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
Mississippi St. improves to 11-1.
Memphis committed 12 turnovers in the first half that were converted into 17 points. Dain Dainja coughed the ball up a game-high six times. Colby Rogers also had trouble holding onto the ball with four turnovers of his own.
The senior guard’s problems extended to the other end of the floor. Rogers shot zero for eight from the field in 25 minutes, finishing with two points on a pair of free throws. He averages 12.5 points per game.
Memphis’ PJ Haggerty shot 7-13, along with 2-4 from deep for 24 points to lead all scorers. Tyrese Hunter added 19 points on 6-15 shooting.
Memphis will host the 17th-ranked Ole Miss Rebels at the FedEx Forum on Saturday, Dec. 28. Tipoff is at 1 p.m.
