Postgame Notes: State vs. Northwestern State

TEAM NOTES

Mississippi State continued its season-opening 3-game homestand with an 82-44 rout of Northwestern State on Thursday evening at Humphrey Coliseum.
The Maroon and White had 12 of 14 players who saw action score, while 13 of the 14 players who saw action grabbed a rebound.
The Bulldogs started fast from the opening whistle and ripped out to a 10-0 advantage during the opening 4:26 of the contest.
Kimani Hamilton scored five early points, while Thomas Bassong brought a spark on the defensive end with a trio of blocks during the game's first segment.
State would take a 49-27 lead into the locker room as the bench would score 30 points in the first 20 minutes headed once again by King Grace's 8 points.
A Tee Barlett layup as State's final bucket would give the Bulldogs their largest lead of 39 points, 82-43, with 1:01 remaining.
State has won its first 2 games in 4 of its 5 seasons under Coach Jans.
The Bulldogs have compiled a 44-8 mark versus non-SEC opponents during the regular season under Coach Jans fueled by wins in 26 of 28 non-conference home outings at Humphrey Coliseum.
State is 61-11 over the last five seasons under Coach Jans when leading at the half.
The Bulldogs are 24-6 over the last five seasons under Coach Jans during the month of November.
State dominated the glass and outrebounded the Demons by a 50-34 margin.
The Bulldogs are 59-21 over the last five seasons under Coach Jans when winning the battle of the boards.
State recorded seven blocks which came from three players.
State buried 26-of-64 from the floor (40.6 percent), hit on 8-of-28 from three-point territory (28.6 percent) and connected on a 22-31 clip at the free throw line (71.0 percent).
The Bulldogs are 15-2 over the last five seasons under Coach Jans when knocking down 20+ free throws.
Conversely, Northwestern State was held to a 14-of-47 shooting effort (29.8 percent), made 4-of-15 of its three-pointers (26.7 percent) and tallied a 12-for-25 mark at the charity stripe (48.0 percent).

PLAYER NOTES

Josh Hubbard

Started his 84th consecutive game over the past four seasons (01/27/2024-11/05/2026) where he has led the team in scoring in 57 of those 84 outings (67.9 percent).
His team-leading 15 points came on 4-of-10 from the field, 3-of-6 from three-point territory and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe.
The senior guard now has 1987 career points which allowed him to remain in 4th place on State's all-time scoring list. He sits 26 points shy of passing Quinndary Weatherspoon (2016-17-18-19) for 3rd place.
Hubbard will enter the Jackson State game 13 points away from becoming the 4th player at State and 29th player in SEC history to reach 2,000 career points.
Notched double figures for the 95th time over his 103 career games.
The 95 games of 10+ points allowed Hubbard to claim solo possession of 3rd place passing Rickey Brown (1977-78-78-80) on State's all-time list.
Drained multiple three's for the 11th straight game (02/11/2026-11/05/2026) and the 85th time in his career.
Hubbard now has 317 career triples which puts him 9 treys away from passing Tennessee's Santiago Vescovi (2020-21-22-23-24) for 8th place on the SEC's all-time list.
Distributed 3 assists against 0 turnovers.

RJ Johnson

Has made 24 of 27 career starts over the last two seasons between Mississippi State and Kennesaw State.
Limited to 2 points and 1 steal over 18 minutes of action.

Kimani Hamilton

Made his 120th career appearance and his 108th consecutive start over the last four seasons between High Point, UNLV and State.
Fired in 10 points and 7 rebounds and added 1 assist.
The 10 points brought Hamilton 12 points away from reaching 1,500 for his career.
Recorded double figures for the 1st time in Maroon and White and for the 80th time in his career.
Collected 5+ rebounds for the 71st time in his career.

Thomas Bassong

Started for the 19th time in 35 career games over the last two seasons between Mississippi State and Florida State.
Stuffed the stats sheet with 8 points coupled with a team-leading 8 rebounds and swatted a career-best 4 blocks.
Grabbed 5+ rebounds in his first two games in Maroon and White and for the 11th time during his career.
It marked Bassong's 4th career outing with multiple blocks.

ND Okafor

Made his 105th career appearance with 34 of his 36 career starts over the last two seasons between Mississippi State and Washington State.
Picked up 2 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks.
Secured 114 career blocks with multiple rejections in 32 of his 66 career outings.

BENCH

State blitzed Northwestern State by a 45-17 margin in points off the bench.
King Grace dialed up 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
Grace made it back-to-back outings with 10+ points to start the season and now has 5 career games of 10+ points.
Grace has connected on multiple treys for the 2nd time this season and for the 6th time in his career.
Tee Bartlett, Willie Burnett III, Tristan Reed, Tajuan Simpkins and Kendyl Sanders all finished with 6 points apiece.
Reed and Bartlett tacked on 7 and 5 rebounds, respectively.
Reed grabbed 5 of his 7 rebounds on the offensive end.
Bartlett made his collegiate debut after he practiced with the team last season.
Jalyn Collingwood made an impact with 3 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal.

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Players Mentioned

Tee Bartlett

Thomas Bassong

Willie Burnett III

Jalyn Collingwood

King Grace

Kimani Hamilton

Josh Hubbard

RJ Johnson

ND Okafor

Tristan Reed

Kendyl Sanders

Tajuan Simpkins

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