Gameday: Five Things To Know About MSU-Detroit Mercy

by Matt Dunaway, Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State heads into the back half of a four-game homestand to start the 2021-22 season as the Bulldogs welcome Detroit Mercy to Humphrey Coliseum on Wednesday.

State (2-0) is receiving votes in the Associated Press top 25 poll for the second consecutive week and have emerged with wins in 36 of its last 37 non-conference home games under seventh-year coach Ben Howland.

The Matchup: Mississippi State (2-0, 0-0 SEC) vs. Detroit Mercy (0-2, 0-0 Horizon)
Where: Starkville, Mississippi – Humphrey Coliseum
When: Wednesday, November 17, 7:00 p.m. CT
Live Stats: StatBroadcast (https://hailst.at/MBKLiveStats)

Stream: SEC Network+ (Watch ESPN App Only)
Talent: Bart Gregory, Charlie Winfield
Online: Watch ESPN App (Cable Subscription Required)
(https://hailst.at/WatchESPN)

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); The Varsity Network App

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT MISSISSIPPI STATE
1. Mississippi State tops the SEC in scoring defense (49.0 PPG) and field goal percentage defense (30.2 percent). The last time the Bulldogs held their first two opponents under 50 points was during the 2004-05 season against Fairfield and Birmingham-Southern College.

2. Mississippi State piled up three consecutive 20-plus win seasons from 2017-18 to 2019-20 and have made three consecutive postseason appearances. The 88 total victories for the Bulldogs since the start of 2017-18 is tied for fifth-highest in the SEC with Arkansas. The Bulldogs trail only Auburn, Kentucky, LSU and Tennessee.

3. Mississippi State's coaching staff led by Ben Howland along with assistant coaches George Brooks, Korey McCray and Ernie Zeigler are in their seventh season together in Starkville during the 2021-22 season. The Bulldogs coaching quartet is second-longest tenured group at the Power 5 level only behind the West Virginia staff entering its 10th season under Bob Huggins.

4. Mississippi State dominated from start-to-finish during an 86-49 rout over Montana last Saturday. The Bulldogs had four players amass double figures and knocked down 13 three-pointers. Iverson Molinar piled up 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists followed by 15 points apiece from D.J. Jeffries and Shakeel Moore.

Cameron Matthews notched 11 points, while Garrison Brooks nearly collected a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds. Off the bench, Cam Carter was solid with eight points and a team-leading seven assists against zero turnovers. Andersson Garcia notched six points, seven rebounds and three steals.

5. Mississippi State is on the verge of welcoming Tolu Smith and Rocket Watts into the rotation. Smith was the SEC's leading rebounder and paced the conference in double-doubles. Watts piled up 67.4 percent of his points and recorded 12 of his 18 games in double figures against Big Ten opponents last season. The Michigan native is slated to make his season debut against his hometown team on Wednesday.

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM – HEAD COACH BEN HOWLAND
"If we can keep holding our opponents to 30 percent from the field, outrebound them on average by 15, and shoot 50 percent from the field ourselves, I'll be really happy. If we can maintain the level of play we've been on the first two games, I'd be ecstatic especially the 13-23 from three-point range against Montana. I was really pleased with that and was definitely excited about it."

"Detroit is a team who has one of last year's top five leading scorers in the country coming back this year in Mike Davis' son Antoine. He's an excellent point guard who can really shoot it from three and was close to shooting 40 percent with five assists per game."

"They also have a couple guys that we're familiar with. One is [DJ] Harvey who transferred over from Vanderbilt. He put up 16 on us when we went over there a year ago and is a very good player who started his career at Notre Dame. Another is one of our own former players, Prince Oduro. Prince went to South Florida after playing for us a couple of years and has now transferred closer to his home in Toronto."

SERIES HISTORY
Mississippi State has won two of the previous three meetings with the Titans on the hardwood. The Bulldogs swept a home-and-home series during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons. Arnett Moultrie secured a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds, while Brian Bryant provided 17 points off the bench in an 80-75 win on December 17, 2011.

Mississippi State assistant coach Ernie Zeigler is a Detroit native and was an assistant coach with the Titans during the 2014-15 season.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT
The Titans are in the midst of a nine-game road trek to start the season. Detroit has dropped decisions to Wyoming and Toledo and have a matchup with Louisville on the horizon over the weekend.

Antoine Davis, the son of head coach Mike Davis, has posted 18.5 points and 4.0 assists per game. On the interior, Madut Akec is averaging a double-double on the young season with 14.5 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. Prince Oduro has secured 6.5 points per game after he played 21 games for Mississippi State during the 2019-20 season.

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs wrap up a four-game homestand versus Morehead State from the Ohio Valley Conference for a Sunday matinee. Tip time is on-tap for 2 p.m. CT carried online by SEC Network+ and 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.

Gameday: Five Things To Know About MSU-Detroit Mercy

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Players Mentioned

Garrison Brooks

Cam Carter

Andersson Garcia

D.J. Jeffries

Cameron Matthews

Iverson Molinar

Shakeel Moore

Tolu Smith III

Rocket Watts

Mississippi State University Athletics