Gameday: Five Things to Know About MSU-LSU

by Matt Dunaway, Associate Director/Communications

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana – Mississippi State will look to wrap up its two-game road swing on a winning note when the Bulldogs visit defending SEC regular season champion LSU on Saturday.

The Matchup: Mississippi State (9-5, 0-2 SEC) vs. LSU (10-4, 2-0 SEC)
Where: Baton Rouge, Louisiana – Maravich Center
When: Saturday, Jan. 11, 7:00 p.m. CT
Live Stats: StatBroadcast (https://hailst.at/MBKLiveStats)

TV: ESPN
Talent: Beth Mowins, Sean Farnham
DirecTV: Ch. 206, Dish: Ch. 140, AT&T U-Verse: Ch. 1602, MaxxSouth: Ch. 1023, C Spire: Ch. 200
Online: WatchESPN App (https://hailst.at/MSUvsLSU011120)

Radio: Mississippi State Sports Network – Powered by Learfield IMG College
Talent: Neil Price, Richard Williams
Affiliates: WKBB-FM 100.9 Starkville/West Point (Full List: https://hailst.at/MBKAffiliates)
Free Online Audio: Hail State Plus (https://hailst.at/MBKListen); Tune-In Radio App (https://hailst.at/MBKtunein)
Sirius XM/Internet: Ch. 385 (XM), Ch. 975 (Internet)

MSU-LSU HARDWOOD SERIES
Saturday's meeting is the 214th in the all-time series with LSU holding a 111-102 edge. The Bulldogs have won four of the last six going back to the 2016-17 season, but the Tigers came away with a 92-88 overtime decision during the lone meeting last season.

Mississippi State's last win in Louisiana's capital city was a 95-78 victory on Jan. 7, 2017. Five players registered double figures headed by Aric Holman's 17 points and nine rebounds. Lamar Peters tacked on 15 points and five assists followed by Quinndary Weatherspoon's 14 points, seven rebounds and three steals.

TICKETS/PROMOTIONS
General admission tickets for Mississippi State's next home game against Missouri on Tuesday, Jan. 14 are available for as low as $12 including fees at www.HailState.com/tickets or in person at the Mississippi State Athletics Ticket Office located on the first floor of the Bryan Building. The Humphrey Coliseum Box Office opens 90 minutes prior to tipoff on gameday.

Mississippi State is offering a $60 SEC four-game mini plan at www.HailState.com/tickets which features a trio of Saturday matchups against Georgia (Jan. 18), Tennessee (Feb. 1) and Ole Miss (March 7) in addition to the Alabama (Feb. 25) game.

Mississippi State also has a flex plan available where fans can purchase 10 general admission tickets for $75. The tickets can be redeemed at any remaining home game this season and used in any combination. For example, fans can use two tickets at five games or all 10 tickets at one game.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT MISSISSIPPI STATE
1. Mississippi State suffered a 90-69 setback to Alabama during Wednesday's SEC road opener. Nick Weatherspoon poured in a season-high scoring output of 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting. The 20 points was Weatherspoon's second-highest scoring performance of his career. Reggie Perry and Robert Woodard II pumped in 14 points apiece, while Woodard II added nine rebounds which brought him one shy of his fourth double-double of the season. Perry grabbed five boards, handed out two assists and recorded two steals. Tyson Carter worked his way to nine points and secured two assists whereas Iverson Molinar chipped in seven points. Abdul Ado collected eight rebounds, three points and two blocks. The Bulldogs were held to 37.7 shooting percentage which was their second-lowest percentage of the season.

2. The SEC has had a team make the NCAA Tournament after a 0-2 start to conference play during four of the last five seasons. Last year's Mississippi team is joined by Georgia (2015), Vanderbilt (2016), Tennessee (2018) and Texas A&M (2018). In fact, Tennessee rallied from a 0-2 start to win a share of the SEC regular season title.

3. Reggie Perry is a preseason All-America selection by Lindy's (First Team), Street & Smith (Second Team) and Athlon Magazines (Third Team) in addition to being named a consensus All-SEC First-Team honoree. He is coming off a sensational offseason where had the opportunity to attend the NBA Draft Combine and workout for several NBA franchises. Perry also captured a gold medal for the USA U19 Team and was the tournament's MVP at the 2019 FIBA World Cup in Greece. He was listed as a candidate for six major awards which include the John R. Wooden, Karl Malone, Lute Olson, Naismith, NABC and Oscar Robertson. Perry has amassed double figures in 13 of his last 14 games headed by 19.2 PPG and 10.6 RPG over his last five outings. He has piled up 15-plus points in seven of his last 10 appearances highlighted by a career-high 26 points against Kent State on 12/30 and a SEC career-high tying 21 points versus No. 8 Auburn on 01/04. Overall, Perry's 15.7 points per game are 10th, while his 9.6 rebounds per game headline the SEC. He has secured a SEC-leading seven double-doubles this season and 16 double-doubles for his career which is tops among SEC active players. MSU has had three players average a double-double for a season in the 2000s. The list includes Lawrence Roberts (16.9 PPG, 11.0 RPG in 2003-04; 16.9 PPG, 11.0 RPG in 2004-05), Jarvis Varnado (13.8 PPG, 10.3 RPG in 2009-10) and Arnett Moultrie (16.4 PPG, 10.5 RPG) in 2011-12).

4. Tyson Carter has improved his points, rebounds, assists and steals average over his first three seasons at Mississippi State. The senior guard ranks inside the league's leaders in points (14.1 – 14th) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.8 – T-7th). Carter has already piled up a quartet of 20-plus point performances which is tied for 9th in the SEC. He heads into Saturday's game with double figures in six of his last 10 appearances. Carter has registered 1,119 career points and is tied with Tyrone Washington (1996-97-98-99) which is tied for 32nd place on MSU's all-time scoring list. He is five points shy of his father, Greg Carter, for 31st place. The Carter's are the SEC's only father-son tandem to score over 1,000 points apiece. Tyson's 1,119 points also are third among SEC active players only behind Ole Miss' Breein Tyree and LSU's Skylar Mays.

5. Nick Weatherspoon has been a welcomed addition back to the starting lineup where he has posted 14.0 points, 2.0 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks per game … He has started in 63 of 64 career games and improved his scoring during all four of his appearances sparked by a 20-point performance at Alabama on 01/08 … Abdul Ado has picked up 8.0 points and 8.9 rebounds per game over his last seven outings … He managed season's bests with 17 points and 12 rebounds against Radford on 12/18 … Ado has been rated among the SEC's best shot blockers during each of the last three seasons … His 1.9 blocks per game in 2019-20 are good enough for a fourth place tie on the SEC leaderboard … Ado has racked up 151 career blocks over 81 career games and has climbed to seventh place on MSU's all-time list … His 1.86 career BPG are third in program history only behind legendary shot blockers Jarvis Varnado (2007-08-09-10) and Erick Dampier (1994-95-96) … Robert Woodard II has provided 12.0 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game on the season … The 7.8 RPG are seventh whereas the 1.6 SPG are tied for ninth on the SEC list … Woodard II and Perry possess two of the three 20-plus point, 15-plus rebound games among SEC players this season, Florida's Kerry Blackshear Jr. registered 24 points and 16 rebounds against Alabama on 01/04 … Woodard II has already collected double figures in nine games and five of his last six outings after having three games of 10-plus during the entire 2018-19 season … Iverson Molinar and D.J. Stewart Jr. have teamed for 12 games of 10-plus points during their freshman season … The duo has accounted for 135 of the team's 203 bench points (66.5 percent) when coming off the bench … Molinar provided a 16-point performance where he was a flawless 5-for-5 from the floor versus Kent State on 12/30 … His season-high is 21 points aided by four treys against Tulane on 11/21 … Stewart Jr. has rattled off 10-plus points in seven games which includes three of his last six appearances … The Bulldogs are 7-0 this season when Stewart Jr. reaches double digit points … The last time Stewart Jr. reached double digits was a 12-point effort versus Kent State on 12/30 and his season scoring watermark is 15 points during the Sam Houston State game on 11/08 … KeyShawn Feazell and Prince Oduro round out to MSU's rotation … Oduro's season-high is six points against Tulane on 11/21 and at Coastal Carolina on 11.24, while Feazell secured nine points versus New Orleans on 11/17.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT
The defending SEC regular season champion Tigers have won three straight games and sit in a four-way tie for first place with Auburn, Florida and Kentucky. LSU started the three-game run with a non-conference win over previously undefeated Liberty.

The Tigers possess a balanced scoring attack with five players in double figures fueled by Skyler Mays (16.1 PPG, 2.8 APG, 2.1 SPG) and Trendon Watford (13.4 PPG, 6.4 RPG).

Mays has registered double figures in six consecutive games and in 12 of 14 games on the season. His three top scoring efforts were 30 points against Utah State on 11/22, 23 points at Virginia Commonwealth on 11/13 and 21 points versus Southern Cal on 12/21.

Watford has upped his averages to 18.0 points and 8.5 rebounds in his two SEC outings. He poured in a season's best 21 points and had two traditional three-point plays inside the final minute of LSU's 79-77 victory over Arkansas on Wednesday.

LSU's interior attack is led by Emmitt Williams (13.1 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 1.4 BPG) and Darrius Days (12.9 PPG, 8.6 RPG). The duo has combined for 10 double-doubles on the season. Days has knocked down 75 percent of his two-point attempts and is coming off a 16-point, 16-rebound performance during the Arkansas game.

Javonte Smart (10.9 PPG, 4.8 APG) has improved his assist-to-turnover ratio to 42 assists against 12 turnovers over his last eight outings. He also pumped in a season-high 21 points during LSU's SEC opening road win at Tennessee on 01/04.

UP NEXT
Mississippi State returns to the friendly confines of Humphrey Coliseum for its next three games starting with Missouri on Tuesday. Tip time is slated for 8 p.m. CT from Humphrey Coliseum. The game will be televised by SEC Network and carried online courtesy of the Watch ESPN platform.

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.

Mississippi State Men's Basketball Media Session
January 9, 2020

Head Coach Ben Howland
Q: What have you seen out of LSU so far in conference play?
BH: "In terms of LSU, they're really talented. They're starting five guys who are all averaging double figures. They're guards – they're going to be very similar of what we saw last night. Great pair of guards. The first three opponents we've had, they all have excellent guard play."

When you're talking about [Javonte] Smart and [Skylar] Mays – Mays is incredibly intelligent and really smart. He's a pre-med student. His dad's a doctor. He's got a great feel for the game. I've loved him since his freshman year. Smart is incredibly impressive. [Trendon] Watford can really shoot the ball. He starts at the three and plays a lot of his minutes at the four. They play small ball a lot."

"[Darius] Days, he had nine offensive rebounds last night against Arkansas. I think they had 23 offensive rebounds last night against Arkansas. That's a lot of rebounds in a two-point game. [Emmitt] Williams is doing a great job as their starting five. He's a big strong, physical presence in there. They only play eight guys. At least, that's what they played last night. They're very well-coached. To win on the road at Tennessee and to beat Arkansas at home, obviously, they're off to a great start."

Q: Reviewing film, what have you seen from LSU, and what were takeaway from last night's game at Alabama?
BH: "You know, I haven't watched them that much. We got back last night around 11 p.m. last night, and I've been watching our game at Alabama … I've seen them play a few times in the non-conference, but I haven't seen their Arkansas game yet."

"I've been focused more on us. I'm trying to get us to get things right. From last night, I watched that tape. The main things that popped out to me was we went into the game, and we were so concerned about their ability to shoot. I talked about when you're guarding [Alex] Reese, [John] Petty [Jr.] or [Jaden] Shackelford – they're bring the ball towards you. You're one pass away, and you stay at home and not come off of it. What confused our guys is that we had no team defensive help last night at all the entire game. It really hurt us defensively. We gave up so many easy opportunities for Alabama by not helping enough defensively."

"Offensively, last night watching the tape again, we're shooting a number of ill-advised shots early in the shot clock and playing fast. The first two games in the league, we've taken 68 and 69 shots from the field. We average 55 on the season going into conference. So, that's really hurt our percentages. That's hurt our rebound numbers, and it puts us back on defense."

Q: How do you get the team to not worry about having a 0-2 start and to look at the big picture?
BH: "I think some of that comes from leadership in our players. It is - it is just one game at a time. Obviously, we're all disappointed that we're 0-2 versus 2-0 or 1-1, but it is what it is. You've got to deal with the adversity from it. So, we'll watch [film] edits today from it [the Alabama game] … We'll try to learn from that. We're going to see some awful defense [on film]. I don't expect that we'll see that the rest of this year. If you're going to make jump shots with a hand in our face, so be it. We've got to be there and helping more. That was the worst we've played was last night in terms of our help."

"We're shooting too fast if you go back and watch it. When we pass the ball four times or more, we're 9-of-15 from the field. When we pass it less, we're 23-66. It's a huge difference. To be fair, we are missing some open jump shots."

Gameday: Five Things to Know About MSU-LSU

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Players Mentioned

Abdul Ado

Tyson Carter

KeyShawn Feazell

Aric Holman

Iverson Molinar

Prince Oduro

Reggie Perry

Lamar Peters

D.J. Stewart Jr.

Nick Weatherspoon

Quinndary Weatherspoon

Robert Woodard II

Mississippi State University Athletics