In front of a nearly sold-out Hump, Mississippi State Basketball welcomed the 5th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers for the home Southeastern Conference opener. Following a disappointing loss to South Carolina on Saturday, Mississippi State wanted to flex on the haters with a win over the Volunteers to show the Bulldogs still belonged in the conversation to win the Southeastern Conference outright Championship.

Mississippi State opened the game with a vengeance as they jumped out on the Tennessee Volunteers early, creating an impossible hole to climb out of as the Bulldogs escaped with a 77-72 win.

In the first half of the game, it was all Mississippi State as the Bulldogs dominated Tennessee, building a 35-22 lead over the Volunteers at the break. Tolu Smith and Josh Hubbard powered the Bulldogs with 12 points each to give Mississippi State 24 of the 35 first-half points on a combined five rebounds.

In the second half, Tennessee went on a run to clip into the Mississippi State lead. Tennessee would outscore the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the second half by a margin of 50-42. However, the first-half lead was way too much, and Head Coach Chris Jans and the Mississippi State Bulldogs stunned the 5th-ranked team in the country.

Wednesday night was the night for Tolu Smith and Josh Hubbard, the veteran, and the young gun. Tolu and Josh combined for 48 out of the 77 points scored for Mississippi State. Tolu Smith finished the night with 23 points and four rebounds. Josh Hubbard led the way in scoring for the Mississippi State Bulldogs with 25 points and two rebounds. Together, those two gave the Mississippi State fans at the Hump something to be excited about.

Overall, Mississippi State did everything much better on Wednesday night. The Bulldogs finished with 33 rebounds and a massive 33 points from the bench, 25 of which came from Josh Hubbard, who might have earned himself a spot on the starting five for the matchup with Alabama on Saturday night.

Mississippi State will return home on Saturday night as they welcome the Alabama Crimson Tide to the Hump for a massive game on the SEC Network.