Josh Hubbard scored a season-high 34 points and Mississippi State held on to defeat LIU 87-83 on Tuesday night in Starkville, Miss.
Jayden Epps added 20 points and Sergej Macura had 12 for the Bulldogs (6-5).
Jamal Fuller had 18 points and 10 rebounds, Malachi Davis scored 17, Jomo Goings had 16 and Greg Gordon recorded 12 to lead the Sharks (6-5).
Goings made a 3-pointer to start the second-half scoring and give LIU a 41-39 lead, the first of several lead changes in the half. Four Bulldogs scored during a 9-0 run that gave them a 51-45 lead. They led by six again before Faheim Meran’s 3-pointer completed an 11-3 run that gave the Sharks a 62-60 lead midway through the second half.
Macura’s dunk tied the score, which was tied again at 65, 68, 71 and 76 before Fuller made a tie-breaking 3-pointer. Two Hubbard field goals and four free throws by Epps gave Mississippi State an 84-79 lead with 1:47 left, and the team held on.
Mississippi State took an 8-0 lead before Davis made a jumper for LIU’s first points, and the Sharks got within six points five more times within the next five-plus minutes.
Davis had five points and Fuller made a 3-pointer during a 10-1 run that gave LIU its first lead, 21-20, midway through the half. That was the first of four lead changes within a two-minute span, the last of which came when Macura made a 3-pointer to end a field-goal drought of nearly four minutes for the Bulldogs.
Shaun Jones Jr. followed with a layup, Achor Achor made two free throws and Hubbard added a 3-pointer to expand Mississippi State’s lead to 32-23. Fuller’s 3-pointer ended a scoring drought of more than four minutes for the Sharks and started a 10-2 run that pulled them within one point.
Macura answered with a jumper, but Goings made a jumper and a 3-pointer to give LIU a two-point lead. Hubbard made a 3-pointer with 18 seconds left to give the Bulldogs a 39-38 lead at halftime.
