Bulldogs Open Season Friday At Home Against Spartans

Friday, November 11

Starkville

7:00 PM

Mississippi State

Norfolk State

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Mississippi State opens its 2016-17 campaign Friday at home against Norfolk State.

Bulldogs Open Season Friday At Home Against Spartans

November 09, 2016 | Men's Basketball

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STARKVILLE, Miss. – After a dominating exhibition performance against Delta State, the 2016-17 campaign officially begins Friday against Norfolk State.

The 7 p.m. game at Humphrey Coliseum game will be televised on SECN+, with Bart Gregory and Matt Wyatt handling the broadcast. The game can also be heard on the MSU radio network with veterans Jim Ellis and Richard Williams with the call.

THE SERIES
Friday marks the first meeting between the two schools. However, the Bulldogs are 8-0 all-time against teams from the Mid-Atlantic Conference.

COACHES
Ben Howland enters his second year at MSU and 21^st overall. As a head coach in four different stops, he is 415-223 with a 14-17 mark with the Bulldogs.

Robert Jones is in his fourth year with Norfolk State and owns a 56-46 ledger.

NEXT 3
Nov. 17 vs. Central Florida in the Charleston Classic
Nov. 18 vs. Boise State or College of Charleston in Charleston Classic
Nov. 20 vs. TBA in Charleston Classic

BULLDOG BITES

Mississippi State enters its 105th season of basketball having won 11 out of its last 14 season openers.
Overall, the Bulldogs are 81-23 in lid-lifters and have won 24 of their last 31 dating back to the 1985-86 campaign.
MSU is opening at home for the 10th time in the last 11 years. The last time it opened on the road was 2012-13 at Troy, a 56-53 setback.
Norfolk State is one of four possible teams on MSU's schedule the Bulldogs are facing for the first time. Central Florida, Boise State and LeHigh are the other three
Mississippi State returns just three players that have seen any action in the Maroon & White — Aric Holman, I.J. Ready and Quinndary Weatherspoon. This trio accounted for 29.6 percent of MSU's scoring from a year ago (687 of 2,323). Weatherspoon led this group with 371 points.
Of the Bulldogs' roster, 12 have never seen action.
After earning Freshman All-SEC honors a year ago, Quinndary Weatherspoon was tabbed first-team All-SEC this week by the league coaches after the media named him second team.
I.J. Ready is 331 points shy of becoming the 37th player in MSU history to score 1,000 for a career. He also needs just 52 assists to move into the MSU all-time Top 10. In addition, he is 31 steals shy of moving in the MSU Top 10 record book.
Last year's 2,323 points were the ninth-most in school history, while the 225 made 3-pointers with the 8th most. The Bulldogs also shot .725 from the charity stripe, the best since shooting .724 in 1972-73.
Wednesday, MSU's recruiting class was ranked 11th nationally by ESPN after signing guards Nick Weatherspoon (Canton, Miss.) and KeShawn Feazell (Monticello, Miss.) and forward Garrison Brooks (Lafayette, Ala.)