STARKVILLE, Miss. — Senior guard Josh Hubbard put his name beside three program legends Monday night, scoring his 2,000th career point as Mississippi State rolled past Jackson State 98-57 at home in Starkville, Miss.
Hubbard reached the mark on a floater in the second half and finished with 14 points, going 3 of 6 from beyond the arc. The win lifted the Bulldogs to 3-0.
Only Jeff Malone, with 2,142 points, Bailey Howell, with 2,030, and Quinndary Weatherspoon, with 2,012, had reached the milestone in school history before him. That leaves Malone’s career record within range this winter.
The hometown standout has made at least half of his 3-point tries in each of the first three games. He averaged a career-best 22.1 points a year ago and was named third-team All-SEC, after earning second-team honors as a sophomore. As a freshman he won the Howell Trophy as the top college player in Mississippi, an award handed out by the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, and he was the first freshman ever to take it home.
The 6-foot, 21-year-old guard has scored efficiently from the start of his senior season, and the Jackson State blowout gave him plenty of minutes to chase the number in front of the home crowd. He averaged 18.9 points as a sophomore and 17.1 as a freshman, a steady climb that put the 2,000 mark in sight before the opener. Each additional point now moves him closer to the top of the career list.
Hubbard and forward Tristan Reed met with reporters after the game in the program’s Jackson State postgame session. Mississippi State plays Xavier next on Nov. 13 at a neutral site in West Virginia, with tipoff set for 9 p.m. Eastern.
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