Josh Hubbard shined despite Mississippi State basketball struggles vs. Florida Gators

Look, the Mississippi State men's basketball team didn't have much fun when the MSU Bulldogs took a trip to Florida, but that doesn't mean MSU didn't have some bright moments in the 70-79 road loss to the Florida Gators.

Now, this isn't a "hey, let's feel good about things" sort of thing, but rather it's appreciating how Josh Hubbard kept things from absolutely spiraling out of control and celebrating the way that he kept everything from being so much worse in this road loss.

There shouldn't be any doubt in anyone's mind as to who the most valuable player on MSU's roster happened to be Wednesday evening. Hubbard was by far Mississippi State’s best player in this game in Gainesville. What exactly did Hubbard do against the Gators? Well, he managed to score a game-high 26 points and made this loss a little less dreadful.

Josh Hubbard thrived and led Mississippi State basketball against Florida Gators

Now, it's clear that Hubbard is still young and is still developing and he was pretty far from perfect. But, he kept shooting and he wasn't afraid to keep shooting. Hubbard managed to score his 26 points on 9-25 shooting and he went 5-17 from behind the three point line. after pouring in a game-high 26 points on 9-25 shooting, including a 5-17 clip from downtown.

Not exactly the most efficient numbers ever, but if it weren't for Hubbard, this loss looks a lot worse than it happened to be.

Hubbard was one of just two Mississippi State men's basketball players who scored in double digits when facing the Florida Gators. Tolu Smith was the other and he was held to 10 points by UF's defensive efforts.

So, maybe let's celebrate Hubbard's willingness to keep shooting from deep and to keep scoring, even if his shooting percentages took a bit of a hit in the process. After all, the man accounted for over 37 percent of the Bulldogs' point total Wednesday evening. That's an impressive feat for a freshman.

Now maybe we'll see Hubbard enter into the starting lineup? The Bulldogs have to do something to find some sort of offensive consistency.