Ja’Kobi Gillespie scored 12 of his team-high 18 points in the second half and Nate Ament had eight of his 16 points in the closing five minutes to lead the visiting Tennessee Volunteers to a 73-64 victory Wednesday night over Mississippi State in Starkville, Miss.
Josh Hubbard paced Mississippi State, which never led in the game, with 31 points on 13-of-24 shooting.
Gillespie scored the first seven points for the Volunteers (17-7, 7-4 SEC) to open the second half and Ament had two three-point plays in the final 4:58 to help Tennessee survive a late furious rally by the Bulldogs (11-13, 3-8). Mississippi State trailed 63-40 with 10:14 to go before putting together an 18-0 run to trim the deficit to five points.
Tennessee recovered with an 8-0 run for a 71-58 lead. Ament closed the Volunteers’ scoring with a fast-break dunk off an assist from Bishop Boswell, who finished with a career-best eight assists. J.P. Estrella added 12 points and seven rebounds for Tennessee, which won for the fifth time in six games.
No other Mississippi State player scored in double figures besides Hubbard. Sergej Macura led the Bulldogs with eight boards.
Gillespie put the game out of reach in the opening moments of the second half. With the Volunteers ahead by 11 points at halftime, Gillespie powered an 11-2 run to open the half and allow Tennessee to go up by 20 (50-30).
Tennessee never trailed in the first half, although there were six ties. The last tie came at 25-all following a 3-pointer from Mississippi State’s Achor Achor with 7:59 to go.
The Vols proceeded to score the next 12 points over a stretch of five minutes and 48 seconds, ending the run on two free throws by Ament. The Bulldogs were held scoreless for nearly seven minutes late in the opening half, mostly while Hubbard was on the bench. Tennessee led at the break, 39-28.
Hubbard scored 20 of Mississippi State’s 28 first-half points, including 14 in the game’s opening 7:42.
Hubbard’s steal and layup midway through the second half gave him 501 points for the season.
