Mississippi State men’s basketball upsets No. 5 Tennessee

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) — Mississippi State men’s basketball pulled off the upset over No. 5 Tennessee, defeating the Volunteers 77-72. This marks the first AP Top 10 victory for the Bulldogs since 2002.

MSU maintained control for the majority of the game, leading for all but three minutes. The Bulldogs’ defense slowed down an efficient Volunteer offense, while MSU’s offense shot 45.8% against the second-best defense in the country.

The Bulldogs were led by freshman Josh Hubbard with 25 points. He shot 50% from deep. Tolu Smith wasn’t too far behind with 23 points in just his third game back. Smith came up big when his team needed him most, converting on an and-1 with 14.7 seconds left in the game to give MSU a three-point lead.

Although the stat sheet won’t show it, DJ Jeffries also proved huge for the team on defense.

The Bulldogs got their first SEC win in the form of a Quad 1 win. MSU improves to 12-3 on the year.