Men's Hoops Notches Another SEC Road Win at Vanderbilt, 84-81

Saturday, January 9

Nashville, Tenn.

12:00 PM

Mississippi State

8-4,3-1SEC

Vanderbilt

4-5,0-3SEC

Mississippi St.

Vanderbilt

Photo by: USA Today

Men's Hoops Notches Another SEC Road Win at Vanderbilt, 84-81

January 09, 2021 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Quotes (PDF)VIDEO: Coach Howland Presser VIDEO: Student-Athletes Presser

by Mikaela Elizondo, Graduate Assistant/Communications

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Iverson Molinar delivered career-highs with 24 points, eight rebounds and four steals as the Mississippi State men's basketball team dialed up another SEC road victory, an 84-81 win over Vanderbilt, at Memorial Gymnasium on Saturday.

Molinar was joined by Jalen Johnson, Tolu Smith and D.J. Stewart Jr. to give Mississippi State (8-4, 3-1 SEC) a balanced offensive attack. The quartet pumped in a combined 68 points on a collective 24-for-35 shooting performance.

Molinar and Smith did the heavy lifting during the second half for the Bulldogs en route to 27 of their 42 points and knocked down all nine of their field goal attempts after the intermission.

State improved to 6-1 with four players in double figures. The victory marked the second time in program history that the Bulldogs have notched consecutive wins over the Commodores (4-5, 0-3 SEC) on the Vanderbilt campus. MSU previously accomplished the feat during the 2001-02 and 2003-04 seasons.

Mississippi State has won eight of its last 10 games in 2020-21 and has won three of its first four conference decisions for the second time under Ben Howland. The last time the Bulldogs started SEC action with a 3-1 mark was in 2016-17.

Molinar had himself a career afternoon as he equaled his best career scoring output (24) in addition to setting new career marks in rebounds (8) and steals (4). He was 9-of-11 from the floor and hit on 6-of-9 at the foul line. The sophomore from Panama has registered 20-plus in back-to-back games, five games total in 2020-21 and six times during his career.

Smith worked his way to 13 of his 18 points in the second half courtesy of a 7-for-8 shooting clip. He has garnered double figures in 10 of 12 outings and hauled down eight rebounds.

Stewart Jr. extended his run to 12 consecutive games with double-digit points with a 16-point effort. He also dished out three assists against one turnover.

Nine of Johnson's 10 points came from three-pointers as the graduate transfer buried three of the team's four shots from beyond the arc. Johnson also added a block and a steal.

Abdul Ado added eight points and eight rebounds to tuck away his second-highest scoring performance of the season. The eight boards enabled him to surpass Lawrence Roberts (2004-05) for 19th on the program's rebounds list.

Cameron Matthews, Quinten Post and Deivon Smith rounded out the scoring for the Bulldogs. The trio contributed a combined eight points, six rebounds, four assists and a steal. Smith notched four assists and three rebounds, while Post also secured three rebounds. Matthews salted the game away with a game-clinching steal in the closing seconds.

For the contest, MSU hit 31-of-51 shots from the field (60.8 percent). The 60.8 shooting clip for the Bulldogs is the program's best during a SEC road game since connecting for a 63.5 mark at Auburn on 01/29/1992. State managed to hit 4-of-7 shots from three-point territory (57.1 percent) and 18-of-29 at the foul line (64.3 percent).

The Bulldogs dominated the interior with 21 of their 31 field goals and amassed a healthy 42-18 margin in paint points.

MSU held a 34-30 rebounding advantage and have outboarded its opponents in 11 of their 12 contests on the season. The Bulldogs compiled nine assists and 12 turnovers, while the Commodores had 19 assists versus 10 turnovers.

Vanderbilt shot 25-of-60 overall (41.7 percent), 15-of-33 on three-pointers (45.5 percent) and 16-of-21 at the charity stripe (76.2 percent). The Commodores had four players of their own in double figures. Scotty Pippen Jr. tallied 18 points and 12 assists followed by 17 points from Trey Thomas off the bench. Dylan Disu totaled 16 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.

FROM THE BENCH WITH COACH HOWLAND
"There's a great sense of understanding of everybody's role. Our guys really like each other. We have great leadership within the team, starting with Abdul [Ado] and D.J. [Stewart Jr.], and including Iverson [Molinar] and Tolu [Smith] as well. Those four guys do a great job leading. I think Jalen [Johnson], who is a fifth-year player, has been a tremendous leader for our younger guys. He's really been good. I think our guys really support one another. We have a good feeling in that locker room. I'm proud of them. I'm proud of how they're playing together and playing unselfishly. I'm really happy for them."

"We're always trying to score in the paint because of our size with Abdul [Ado] and Tolu [Smith]. Iverson [Molinar] gets to the rim so well, as does D.J. [Stewart Jr.], finishing at the rim. We have a lot of guys that are good in the paint – pullup jumpers and with shots at the rim. I thought Tolu was really good and patient offensively today in terms of getting it down low and taking his time. He had some really good post moves today. So, you can see he has really grown there. He's improving, and that's exciting."

"I'm happy he [Cameron Matthews] got the steal [at the end of the game], number one. That was a huge play. Then, to knock in the first [free throw] to make it so they [Vanderbilt] had to shoot a three, you would think. Give Vanderbilt credit, they made 15 three-pointers on us. That's a huge part of what we talked about. We came off guys at inopportune times, and we have to learn from it because we're playing them again sometime in February. We have to do a better job to not allow all of those three's. They're a great shooting team, and this is a hard place to win."

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM – IVERSON MOLINAR
"I don't let it affect my game [playing against other guards at high level]. I just try to stay with what I'm doing right now and not force shots. Of course, there's all the talk and all, but I do a pretty good job of leaving that on the outside, focusing on the court and being able to play as a team."

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM – TOLU SMITH
"When we went into the locker room, Coach [Howland] was feeling like we were playing sluggish and not playing with the anticipation that we needed. So, I feel like we just came out with a better burst, especially in the first five minutes. My teammates did a great job of getting me the ball."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
In an opening half that featured 10 ties, five lead changes and neither team take more than a seven-point advantage, Mississippi State found its groove during the last 10 minutes of the stanza.

The Bulldogs turned a 22-15 deficit at the 10:51 mark into a 36-30 lead with 1:54 left, courtesy of a 21-8 spurt over an 8:57 span. State connected on 10 of its 12 shot attempts to fuel the flurry.

Jalen Johnson sank back-to-back triples 36 seconds apart to vault the Bulldogs ahead 23-22 with 8:57 to go. Iverson Molinar turned defense into offense with a steal and one-handed dunk and capped the run with a midrange jumper.

Mississippi State took a 36-35 edge into the locker room and pushed the lead to five points, 40-35, with buckets from Tolu Smith and Molinar during the first 1:26 of the second half.

Up 51-48 with 14:43 on the clock, the Bulldogs ripped off 10 of the next 12 points over a 3:42 span. Molinar kickstarted the momentum with a traditional three-point play. Quinten Post rattled home a trey at the top of the key, and Deivon Smith added a midrange jumper to make it 61-50 at the 11:01 mark.

Vanderbilt hung around behind the three-point ball. The Commodores responded with 10 straight points of their own headed by a pair of triples to pull within 61-60 with 8:18 remaining.

Mississippi State weathered the storm behind its bigs. Abdul Ado got a layup, and Tolu Smith got in the lane for three straight buckets highlighted by a layup where he split a Vanderbilt double team. Molinar hit on two free throws to bring the tally to 71-61 with 4:56 left.

The Commodores had one final charge left and trailed by one point at 82-81 with 6.4 seconds left after two three-pointers sandwiched around a Stewart Jr. free throw.

A Johnson free throw placed State back up by two. Following a Vanderbilt timeout, Cameron Matthews sealed the win with a steal on Vanderbilt's leading scorer Scotty Pippen Jr and rattled home his first free throws. He missed the second, and the Commodores desperation heave for three-quarter court went wide.

UP NEXT
First up on Mississippi State's upcoming three-game homestand is Texas A&M on Wednesday. Tip time is on-tap for 8 p.m. CT from Humphrey Coliseum, televised by SEC Network and available online courtesy of the Watch ESPN app.

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.