Associated Press

SOUTHAVEN, Miss. (AP) — Josh Hubbard scored 23 points, Cameron Matthews made several key free throws down the stretch and Mississippi State rallied in the second half to defeat Utah 78-73 on Sunday in the Mid-South Showdown.

KeShawn Murphy scored 18 points, Matthews 12, with 8 of 10 from the line, and Ryan Kugel scored 12 for the Bulldogs. Murphy had 14 rebounds.

Matthews made two free throws on back-to-back possessions to put the Bulldogs up 75-71 in the final minute. After a Utes miss, their defensive pressure forced Mississippi State to call timeout twice. Utah then fouled Matthews again. He made one of two, then Kugel got an offensive rebound and made a pair of free throws to put the game out of reach.

Ezra Ausar led Utah with 15 points. Mason Madsen scored 14, Keanu Dawes 13 and Miro Little 10. Dawes had 12 rebounds.

Hubbard scored 11 points and Murphy had seven as the Bulldogs stormed back from an 11-point halftime deficit to lead 50-44 with 13 1/2 minutes remaining. The Utes regrouped and went ahead by four before a string of seven lead changes in the next three minutes.

Utah controlled the first half, building an 11-point lead at the intermission. The Utes outscored the Bulldogs 24-11 over the second 10 minutes of the half, with Dawes scoring seven points and Little capping the run with two 3-pointers.

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Updates on Medicaid policy, former Medicaid director and US Sen. Roger Wicker

State leaders are again looking toward the 2025 Mississippi Legislative Session now that most elections are over and the money they will have to set the new state budget.

Members of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, consisting of Republicans Gov. Tate Reeves; Speaker of the House Jason White of West; and Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and others, agreed Thursday to set the state’s Fiscal Year 2026 revenue estimate at $7.62 billion.

In the spring, they will vote to set a more concrete estimate, which is used to determine the actual state budget.

The current figure is less than $30 million above what was estimated for Fiscal Year 2025, which began in July.

During the meeting, Reeves said about $600 million of unspent tax dollars remains in this year’s budget and suggested the committee members, made up of House and Senate lawmakers, to give that money “back to the taxpayers.”

Both Hosemann and White are eyeing major tax cuts in the 2025 Session. Hosemann has publicly advocated for a cut of the state’s 7% grocery tax, while White is looking to take an axe to the state’s personal income tax.

Reeves has been on record for years saying the income tax should be cut, which is currently being phased down to 4% by FY 2026.

“There are lots of crosshairs on that $600 million that you speak of,” White said, jokingly, in response to Reeves’ suggestion.

State Economist Corey Miller told the committee sales tax revenues are growing at a slower pace than in the previous three years, while income tax revenues despite the phasedown, are up.

Former Medicaid director is now leading up a healthcare lobbying group

Former Mississippi Division of Medicaid Executive Director Drew Snyder appears to have found a new job, albeit not very far from his last one.

On Tuesday, Capitol Resources, a powerful lobbying group in Mississippi and beyond, announced Snyder will lead Health Resources LLC, its latest division aimed at healthcare policy.

Medicaid director resigns: Mississippi Medicaid director resigns. Read why he’s leaving

“Health Resources is a health policy consulting and strategic advisory firm whose primary focus is advancing sound healthcare policy and providing impactful solutions for clients in the healthcare sector,” a press release states.

When asking if Snyder would be in violation of any state ethics guidelines by working in the same sector as his previous vocation, the Clarion Ledger was provided an ethics opinion on the Mississippi Ethics Commission website. Ethics commission questions are posted with those who asked for the opinion listed anonymously.

The commission ruled if a former state agency head does not work directly with their new company’s clients that do work with that state agency, there shouldn’t be an issue.

“I could not be more excited to be part of Health Resources and contribute to a mission that aligns with my passion to enhance operational efficiency and deliver cost-efficient, high-quality care,” Snyder said in the press release.

Gov. Reeves ‘open to discussions’ about Medicaid

Speaking of Medicaid. Reeves said he is hoping that Trump will allocate Medicaid funding in a block grant to the state rather than the current funding model.

Each year, Mississippi currently receives approximately $6.5 billion federal funds for Medicaid. Reeves said during a meeting Wednesday he thinks that money has too many federal restrictions.

$110 million toward development sites: Gov. Reeves highlights more than $100M for economic development. See where it is going

Reeves has for years been an opponent of Medicaid expansion. During the 2024 Session, the Clarion Ledger reported his unwavering opposition to Medicaid expansion at every juncture.

Medicaid expansion was considered for the first time in a decade in the Legislature this year, but Senate and House lawmakers could not come to an agreement on expansion specifics by a legislative deadline to do so.

Both Hosemann and White have vowed to return Medicaid expansion to the forefront of state politics in 2025.

Medicaid expansion bill dies: Medicaid expansion dies in Mississippi Legislature

With US Senate GOP majority, Wicker now reps Mississippi in a powerful position

As Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker makes his way back to Washington, D.C., for the next four years, he will be walking into a position of high regard.

As the most senior member of the now-majority party on the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, Wicker is tapped as its chairman, sources close to the senator confirmed and according to Senate procedure.

Election night results, Wicker speech: US Senate: Incumbent Wicker retains seat with campaign focused on border, gun rights

With Wicker in the driver’s seat of the committee, he will have serious sway on any conflict-related policy and spending. It will certainly be interesting to see how he moves on policy in the near future.

Grant McLaughlin covers the Legislature and state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.