No. 18 Men’s Hoops Readies for Final Tune-Up

Sunday, November 4

Starkville

2:00 PM

Mississippi State

Georgia Southwestern State (Exh.)

Aric Holman scored nine points against Ole Miss on Jan. 6.

No. 18 Men’s Hoops Readies for Final Tune-Up

November 03, 2018 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes

by Matt Dunaway, Associate Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – The No. 18 Mississippi State men's basketball team takes on Georgia Southwestern for its lone exhibition tune-up on Sunday inside Humphrey Coliseum.

Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. CT, and admission is free for all fans. The matchup will be streamed online only courtesy of SEC Network + and the WatchESPN app. Bart Gregory and Matt Wyatt will serve as the announcing team.

In an effort to continue Mississippi State's long-standing commitment to provide a safe and secure environment for all fans, coaches and student-athletes, walk-through metal detectors have been implemented at all entrances of Humphrey Coliseum on basketball gamedays.

Fans will be asked to follow the instructions of the security screening staff and place large metal objects such as phones, keys and cameras in containers or in their clear bag on screening tables before passing through the walk-through metal detectors.

Fans will not be required to remove belts, watches, wallets, jewelry, shoes, jackets, coins or other small objects. The metal detectors and clear bag policies provide a safer atmosphere and speed up the entry process into The Hump.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT MISSISSIPPI STATE
1. The Bulldogs are tabbed among the nation's top 20 in the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls heading into as season for the first time dating back to the 2009-10 season.

2. Mississippi State is led by fourth-year head coach Ben Howland, who guided the Bulldogs to a 25-12 record and a NIT Final Four appearance in 2017-18. The 25 victories were the fourth-highest total in program history behind only the 1995-96, 2001-02 and 2003-04 teams.

3. The Bulldogs return their top six scorers from last season, who combined for 2,264 points and 83.4 percent of the team's scoring.

4. Quinndary Weatherspoon (14.4 PPG), Aric Holman (10.9 PPG) and Nick Weatherspoon (10.8 PPG) are coming off averaging double figures, while Lamar Peters (9.6 PPG) and Tyson Carter (8.9 PPG) combined to connect on 107 three-pointers a season ago. Abdul Ado (7.8 PPG) was a strong force on the defensive end with a team-leading 67 blocked shots.

5. The program's incoming recruiting class is a consensus top 25 group, which features McDonalds All-American Reggie Perry along with D.J. Stewart and Robert Woodard II.

FROM THE BENCH WITH COACH HOWLAND
On the program's pre-season ranking …
BH: "I think rankings are always nice going into the season, but in reality they mean absolutely zilch. It's good notoriety for the program. I think it's nice that people have high expectations for this team and this group. You still have to go out and prove it. You have to prove it every day in practice, you have to prove it through your preparation and you have to prove it through your work. As long as we understand that and provided that we stay healthy, I think we're in-store for a fun season.

On how the freshmen have progressed during pre-season camp …
"Well, they're competing for it right now. It's all about competition. They've done a good job. I'll give you an example, we keep stats for every practice. Right now, in all of our practices, Robert (Woodard II) is the second leading rebounder in all of our practices, and Reggie (Perry) is third. That was a weakness for us last year. Guys who rebound are definitely putting themselves in the opportunity for playing time. I said that from the onset with this team. Guys who show up every day and get rebounds, they have to play. We need to be a better rebounding team than we were a year ago. All three of those freshmen (Perry, D.J. Stewart and Perry) are good players, and they are going to be good players here at Mississippi State."

UP NEXT
Mississippi State embarks on its challenging non-conference slate which features nine teams who reached postseason play and finished among the top three of their conferences a season ago.

The Bulldogs will begin the 2018-19 campaign with a three-game homestand and face off against Austin Peay with Friday's tip time scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT from Humphrey Coliseum. The Governors are led by Terry Taylor, the reigning Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) Freshman of the Year, who amassed 15.6 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game last season. Friday's season opener will be carried online only courtesy of SEC Network + and the WatchESPN app.

The Mississippi State Athletics Ticket Office is selling season tickets for as low as $199. Fans can purchase tickets online at www.HailState.com/Hoops, in person at the MSU Athletics Ticket Office located at the Bryan Athletic Building or via the phone at (662) 325-2600. Information on single-game tickets and mini plans will be announced at a later date by the ticket office.

Visit www.HailState.com for the latest news and information on the men's basketball program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets by searching 'HailStateMBK' on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.