Lisbon, Portugal - Mississippi State’s offensive firepower continued on Sunday with a dominant 100-40 win over the Portugal All-Stars to improve to 2-0 on their foreign tour.
Following a day on the beach, the Bulldogs made a splash from deep, knocking down 18 three-pointers in the victory. MSU had seven players score seven more or points, and had nine different players convert from downtown.
"Yeah, that will make them feel good walking out of the gym," head coach Chris Jans said. "We played so many guys and kept coming at them in droves. So it was tough situation for our opponent. But certainly it was nice to see the ball go through the hole."
The newcomers led the way on the offensive end, scoring 68 of the Bulldogs’ 100 points. Freshman Josh Hubbard scored a team-high 19 after leading the team with 12 on Saturday, and knocked down five three-pointers. First-year wing Adrian Myers followed suit with 17 points and three treys, and Marshall grad-transfer Andrew Taylor added 15 points with three triples and some crafty finishes around the rim.
"It was kind of cool to see the new guys lead us in scoring," Jans said. "That is kind of why we signed them. We didn't score the ball that well last year and we needed to address it. And again, we can't get ahead of ourselves. Like I said prior to coming here, win or lose or the difference in the scoring is not going to have much bearing when we get into regular games in November and December.
Of MSU’s 36 baskets, 23 came off of assists. Hubbard led the way with six dimes and Taylor added three. Juco transfer Trey Fort was the beneficiary of the passing with a pair of catch-and-shoot threes on his way to ten points, and Shawn Jones caught an alley-oop from Taylor and knocked a corner three to help him reach nine points.
"That is a trait most of our teams have had and obviously we would like that to continue that," Jans said. "Sharing the ball, making the extra pass and understanding how to play the game. We encourage them to do that and the older guys have helped the younger guys walking in the door.
Forwards KeShawn Murphy and Jaquan Scott mixed it up down low, combining for 16 points and 16 rebounds. Veterans Tolu Smith, Shakeel Moore, and D.J. Jeffries saw limited action and combined for 11 points.
Mississippi State will have a few days off and play the final game of their foreign tour against the Porto All-Stars at 1 p.m. CST on Wednesday. The game will be streamed on the “Mississippi State Athletics” Youtube channel.
"First of all I want them to have fun. They've been great, having a blast. It is fun to watch them interact with one another and we got good kids. We've had full days and we've had full days since we've arrived. Tonight we are going to a soccer game (Sporting CP vs. Villarreal CF) and the guys are getting ready for that as we speak,” Jans said. "Tomorrow we have some other things on the agenda but not basketball, though, which I think will be good. We traveled here and played back-to-back games so we need a little break to just enjoy being here and enjoy one another."
