Sandwiched between an NCAA Tournament soccer game and a road football game at Texas A&M, the Mississippi State Basketball team returned to the Hump on Saturday afternoon to play UT Martin. Mississippi State Basketball, fresh off a massive 71-56 win over Arizona State on Wednesday night, the Bulldogs were out for blood on Saturday afternoon at the Hump.

UT Martin came into the matchup with Mississippi State looking to remain unbeaten after opening the season with a 104-76 win over Champion Christan.

However, playing at the Hump in front of the Mississippi State faithful is no easy feat for a team unfamiliar with high-level college basketball. The Skyhawks of UT Martin were timid of the tenacious Mississippi State defense that Coach Chris Jans and his program bring to each game. The athleticism of the Mississippi State defense was too much for UT Martin to overcome on Saturday afternoon.

In the first half, UT Martin would nip at the heels of Mississippi State, keeping the game within reach. However, as the final seconds ticked away in the first half, Mississippi State would hold a 41-27 lead over the visiting UTM Skyhawks. At halftime, Cameron Matthews led the Mississippi State Bulldogs in scoring with ten points.

As the second half opened, Mississippi State had a spark under them that the Bulldog faithful hadn’t seen in the first half. Mississippi State started to warm up from behind the arc, rebounded better, and played a better brand of basketball in the second half as they cruised to a victory over UT Martin to improve to 2-0 on the season.

Josh Hubbard led the way in scoring for the Mississippi State Bulldogs with 22 points.

Overall, Saturday’s win over the Skyhawks of UT Martin was about as impressive in terms of body of work as the first one on Wednesday night over Arizona State was for the Bulldogs. For the first time in a long time, Mississippi State Basketball has the offensive firepower to bury opponents behind the defensive juggernaut. There’s still so much basketball for the Mississippi State Bulldogs, but the excitement building around the program is warranted. There’s no doubt that Coach Jans has a damn good basketball team that could deliver Mississippi State back to the Final Four for the first time since 1996.