Gameday: Five Things To Know About MSU-Lamar

Thursday, December 2

Starkville

7:00 p.m.

Mississippi State

Lamar

Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics

Gameday: Five Things To Know About MSU-Lamar

December 01, 2021 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes (PDF)WATCH: MSU vs. Lamar LISTEN: Hail State Plus Humphrey Coliseum Fan Guidelines WATCH: Coach Howland Presser Live Stats

by Matt Dunaway, Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State moves into the December portion of its schedule where the Bulldogs will play six of seven games in the State of Mississippi. First up, a matchup with Lamar on Thursday evening at Humphrey Coliseum.

State (5-1) is coming off a split at the Baha Mar Bahamas Championship. The Bulldogs responded with an 82-71 overtime victory over Richmond in a rematch of last year's NIT Quarterfinals after the Maroon and White was dealt a 72-58 setback by Louisville.

Under seventh-year coach Ben Howland, the Bulldogs have won 12 consecutive non-conference home games and posted a 38-1 record in non-conference home games dating back to Dec. 22, 2016.

The Matchup: Mississippi State (5-1, 0-0 SEC) vs. Lamar (1-6, 0-0 WAC)
Where: Starkville, Mississippi – Humphrey Coliseum
When: Thursday, December 2, 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. Heading into Thursday's game, Mississippi State holds top three marks on the SEC leaderboard in field goal percentage (48.8 – 1st), three-point field goal percentage (38.0 – 2nd), rebounding margin (+11.3 – 2nd), rebounding defense (29.3 – 2nd) and field goal percentage defense (37.0 – 3rd). The Bulldogs have limited three of their first four opponents at home under 50 points.

2. 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, who is entering its 10th season under Bob Huggins.

3. The Bulldogs bounced back with an 82-71 overtime victory over Richmond during last Saturday's third place game at the Baha Mar Bahamas Championship.

Tolu Smith collected his third career 20-10 performance with 18 of his 22 points after halftime. He was an efficient 10-of-11 shooting in his second game back from injury. Smith, the SEC's rebounding leader in 2020-21, grabbed 11 rebounds to claim his ninth career double-double.

Iverson Molinar, D.J. Jeffries and Garrison Brooks gave the Bulldogs four players in double figures. Molinar made it four times in six games where he has provided at least 15 points and five assists. He dished out seven assists and added a pair of steals to go along with his 15 points.

Jeffries turned in 13 points, while Brooks notched 11 points and seven rebounds. MSU's bench was headed by Cameron Matthews and Andersson Garcia. The duo teamed up for 11 points and 10 rebounds.

4. Iverson Molinar is the only SEC player to rank among the league's top 5 in points (15.8 – 5th) and assists (5.0 – T-4th). At the Power 5 level, the Panama native is joined by Wendell Moore Jr. (Duke) and Michael DeVoe (Georgia Tech) from the ACC, Mike Miles Jr. (TCU) from the Big 12 and Terrell Brown Jr. (Washington) from the Pac-12 to accomplish the feat.

5. Mississippi State's transfer class of Garrison Brooks, D.J. Jeffries, Shakeel Moore and Rocket Watts has amassed 2,591 career points and 119 career games in double figures. Their teams have posted a combined 87-32 record when providing 10-plus points headed by Jeffries' 25-5 and Watts' 16-2 marks, respectively.

Brooks holds the top spot among SEC active players with 838 career rebounds and sits sixth among SEC's active players with 1,341 career points. Moore has posted 2.5 steals per game, which checks in fifth in the SEC rankings.

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM – HEAD COACH BEN HOWLAND
"I like our resolve and how we bounced back after a disappointing defeat against Louisville to beat a very good Richmond team. A Richmond team that I have a lot of respect for and will win a lot of games this year. I'm excited about the challenge of the week against Lamar and then against Minnesota on Sunday."

"I watched their game against Georgia Tech, which was their second game of the year. They took Georgia Tech down to the wire in that game. Lamar is a team that shoots a lot of three's. Anytime you play against a three-point shooting team, that's always tough. It's a team that can be dangerous. You look at (Kasen) Harrison, (Davion) Buster and (Jordyn) Adams, those three guards play major minutes for them. They are all small but quick, and they are a very, very good shooting team."

SERIES HISTORY
Thursday's game is the first matchup on the hardwood between Mississippi State and Lamar.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT
The Cardinals have four players averaging in double figures which include Davion Buster (12.9 PPG, 2.1 SPG), Jordyn Adams (12.8 PPG), C.J. Roberts (12.1 PPG) and Kasen Harrison (10.0 PPG, 4.0 APG). Bust and Adams have drained 33 of their 52 field goals from three-point territory.

Lamar played within single digits in road games at Georgia Tech (75-66) on Nov. 15, at Southern Miss (82-75) on Nov. 21 and at UTSA (79-73) on Nov. 24. Last time out, the Cardinals dropped an 89-57 decision at Texas Tech on Nov. 27. State will face the Red Raiders in the Big 12/SEC Challenge in January.

UP NEXT
Mississippi State has a matchup on the horizon with undefeated Minnesota from the Big Ten Conference. Sunday's matinee is scheduled for a 1 p.m. CT tip from Humphrey Coliseum, televised by ESPNU.

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.