Gameday: Five Things To Know MSU-Morehead State

by Matt Dunaway, Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State concludes its four-game homestand to begin the 2021-22 season as the Bulldogs take on Morehead State for a Sunday matinee at Humphrey Coliseum.

State (3-0) heads into Sunday's action as one of seven remaining unbeaten teams in the SEC and is receiving votes in the Associated Press top 25 poll for the second consecutive week. The Bulldogs have dialed up wins in 37 of their last 38 non-conference home games under seventh-year coach Ben Howland.

The Matchup: Mississippi State (3-0, 0-0 SEC) vs. Morehead State (2-2, 0-0 Ohio Valley)
Where: Starkville, Mississippi – Humphrey Coliseum
When: Sunday, November 21, 2:00 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 headlines the SEC in field goal percentage (53.0) and three-point field goal percentage (47.4). The Bulldogs also ranked inside the SEC's top 3 in field goal percentage defense (34.5 – 2nd), rebounding defense (29.3 – 2nd), scoring defense (54.0 – 3rd) and scoring margin (+25.3 – 3rd),

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 89 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. The Bulldogs improved to 3-0 with a 77-64 victory over Detroit Mercy on Saturday. State used a 12-2 run to stretch a 56-51 advantage out to 15 points midway through the second half.

Iverson Molinar and Shakeel Moore provided a game-leading 19 points apiece. For Moore, the 19 points tied his career-high. The Maroon and White also received 10 points and five rebounds courtesy of D.J. Jeffries, while Garrison Brooks supplied eight points and seven rebounds. Cameron Matthews stuffed the stats sheet with seven points, five rebounds, four assists and a career-best four steals. Off the bench, Andersson Garcia matched his career-high with six points for the second consecutive game.

5. Mississippi State is on the verge of welcoming Tolu Smith into the rotation. He was the SEC's leading rebounder and paced the conference in double-doubles last season.

Rocket Watts was eased back into the rotation and made his MSU debut off the bench versus Detroit. He piled up 67.4 percent of his points and recorded 12 of his 18 games in double figures against Big Ten opponents last season.

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM – HEAD COACH BEN HOWLAND
"You've seen it time and time again. You see it every year this time of year, and you see it multiple times. I go back to looking at Virginia losing at home to Navy. That was a big upset. Earlier this week, George Mason beat Maryland. There's been some upsets. That's why these games are tough, going against older teams that know how to play. They're playing with a chip on their shoulder and also playing with no pressure. You see a lot of games that you are surprised at that are upsets early in the season, and we don't want to be one of those."

"They've got good players. No. 1, (Johni) Broome inside, their starting five man, was the MVP of the OVC Tournament last year. They got into the NCAA Tournament, beating Belmont by 15. He was dominant and the reason they won a conference championship last year. They have some other good players. I really like (Skyelar) Potter, who is their starting three man. He's a very good shooter, really knows how to play. (Tray) Hollowell, a transfer from Wofford, he can really shoot. They are putting shooters around a big, and they have a very good shooting team. (Ta'lon) Cooper can shoot it, (Jake) Wolfe is a good shooter and (Jaylen) Sebree is a good shooter. They have a bunch of guys that can shoot the ball, trying to give the big guy space inside to go to work."

SERIES HISTORY
Mississippi State has won all five previous meetings with the Eagles in a series that dates back to 1957-58. The only meeting between the two schools during the 2000s came during Ben Howland's second season, an 85-76 win on Dec. 22, 2016.

Quinndary Weatherspoon amassed 27 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals followed by I.J. Ready's 19 points and Aric Holman's 12 points, six rebounds and three blocks.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT
Morehead State routed Kentucky Christian (82-57) and Transylvania (84-59) after falling on the road to No. 22 Auburn (77-54) and UAB (85-71). The Eagles posted a 23-8 mark and made the NCAA Tournament before falling to West Virginia (84-67) last season.

Morehead State is led by Johni Broome who is averaging a double-double with 13.3 points and 11.3 rebounds per game. He was named to the Lou Henson Award Preseason Watch List which is given to the nation's top Mid-Major player.
Skyelar Potter (11.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 2.8 APG), Tray Hollowell (10.8 PPG) and Ta'lon Cooper (9.0 PPG, 5.8 APG, 5.0 RPG) have combined to drain 20 of the team's 33 three-pointers on the season.

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs leave the friendly confines of Humphrey Coliseum for the first time in 2021-22 as State faces Louisville on Thursday to open the Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship. Tip time is slated for 8:30 p.m. CT televised by the CBS Sports Network cable channel.

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 MSU-Morehead State

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Players Mentioned

Garrison Brooks

Andersson Garcia

D.J. Jeffries

Cameron Matthews

Iverson Molinar

Shakeel Moore

Tolu Smith III

Rocket Watts

Mississippi State University Athletics