Gameday: Five Things To Know MSU-Arkansas

by Matt Dunaway, Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State and Arkansas will begin its 18-game conference grind when the two teams square off during SEC opening night on Wednesday at Humphrey Coliseum.

The Bulldogs (9-3, 0-0 SEC) won their last three nonconference games leading into the holiday break headed by blowout victories over the Sun Belt preseason favorite in Georgia State (79-50 on 12/14) and the Big South preseason favorite in Winthrop (84-63 on 12/21).

Arkansas (10-2, 0-0 SEC) began the season with nine consecutive wins and was ranked as high as No. 10 in the Associated Press Top 25. The Razorbacks ended a two-game losing skid with an 81-55 rout of Elon also on 12/21.

Mississippi State has posted a 54-34 record during SEC home openers and has won all five decisions against Arkansas at Humphrey Coliseum, the latest a 78-75 decision on Jan. 2, 2018. The Weatherspoon brothers, Quinndary and Nick, amassed 22 points apiece on a combined 14-of-23 shooting performance and a combined 13-for-18 mark at the free throw line.

The Matchup: Mississippi State (9-3, 0-0 SEC) vs. Arkansas (10-2, 0-0 SEC)
Where: Starkville, Mississippi – Humphrey Coliseum
When: Wednesday, December 29, 4:00 p.m. CT
Live Stats: StatBroadcast (https://hailst.at/MBKLiveStats)

TV: SEC Network (Watch ESPN App)
Talent: Mike Morgan, Jon Sundvold
DirecTV: Ch. 611, Dish: Ch. 404/408, AT&T U-Verse: Ch. 1607, MaxxSouth: Ch. 10266, C Spire: Ch. 220
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. Entering this week's action, Mississippi State holds top three marks on the SEC leaderboard in field goal percentage (47.8 – 2nd), three-point field goal percentage (36.0 – 2nd), free throw percentage (73.8 – 2nd), rebounding margin (+11.1 – 2nd), defensive rebounding percentage (78.8 – 2nd) and offensive rebounding percentage (35.7 – 3rd).

Mississippi State and Oklahoma are the only two Power 5 teams to rank inside their respective conferences top 3 in field goal, three-point and free throw percentages.

The +11.6 rebounding margin for State is seventh nationally. The Bulldogs have rated among the nation's top 20 in rebounding margin during each of the last three seasons.

State sits at No. 21 in the ESPN BPI, holds the No. 41 spot in the NCAA NET rankings and checks in at No. 42 in the KenPom.com ratings. The Bulldogs are scheduled to have a stretch of eight games over a 10-game span from Jan. 15-Feb. 15 versus quad 1 competition.

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.

Howland and his staff piled up three consecutive 20-plus win seasons from 2017-18 to 2019-20 and has totaled 95 victories since the start of 2017-18. The 95 wins are sixth among SEC teams behind Auburn (105), Tennessee (101), Kentucky (99) LSU (98) and Arkansas (96).

3. Last time out, Mississippi State used its winning formula of four players in double figures during an 84-63 rout of Winthrop at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson.

The Bulldogs rode a 47-point opening half, the most for the Maroon and White during any half of the 2021-22 season. State connected on 20 of its first 30 shot attempts to build a 19-point advantage at the intermission.

Iverson Molinar notched his 11th career outing of 20-plus points and second this season with a 22-point performance to extend his run to 12 consecutive games in double figures to start the season.

Three of State's impact transfers joined Molinar with double-digit points. D.J. Jeffries poured in a season's best 19 points followed by 15 points and five rebounds courtesy of Garrison Brooks. Shakeel Moore also chipped in 10 points and two steals.

Javian Davis was State's leading scorer off the bench with eight points, while Cameron Matthews provided six rebounds and Cam Carter handed out a quartet of assists.

4. Iverson Molinar is one of two SEC players to score in double figures during every one of his team's games this season. He is joined by fellow All-SEC Preseason First-Team pick J.D. Notae (Arkansas).

Molinar is the only SEC player to rank inside the league's top 10 in points (16.9 – 3rd) and assists (4.4 – Tied for 7th). He also is ranked among the SEC leaders in free throw percentage (90.9 – 2nd), assist-to-turnover ratio (3.31 – 2nd) and field goal percentage (45.0 – 6th).

Molinar is working his way towards becoming the 41st player in program history and eighth under Coach Howland to reach 1,000 career points at Mississippi State. He enters Wednesday's game 13 points shy of 900 career points and the program's top 50.

5. Mississippi State's transfer class of Garrison Brooks, D.J. Jeffries, Shakeel Moore and Rocket Watts has amassed 2,772 career points and 128 career games in double figures. Their teams have posted a combined 93-35 record when providing 10-plus points headed by Jeffries' 27-5 and Watts' 17-2 marks, respectively.

Brooks holds the top spot among SEC active players with 872 career rebounds and sits sixth among SEC's active players with 1,401 career points. Moore has posted 2.2 steals per game, which checks in tied for second in the SEC rankings.

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM – HEAD COACH BEN HOWLAND
"SEC play is the critical part of our season every year. It's like we're starting an entirely new season altogether. We're 9-3 in non-conference and have one more non-conference game against Texas Tech in the middle of our [conference] season. We're right there, and the 41st ranked team in [NCAA] NET [rankings] right now. We're in a good position and have a chance at the NCAA tournament if we play how we need to."

"Arkansas is a really good team. They have a lot of talent going for them. I love [JD] Notae who is their starting point guard and a former sixth man of the year last year in the SEC. He's a very good player who averages 18 points a game. He's very streaky and played well against us."

"Davonte Davis started plenty of games for them last year as a freshman played really well during their [NCAA Tournament] Elite 8 run and is a potential pro player. They've added some good pieces from the transfer portal including Chris Lykes from Miami. He's their second leading scorer and leads them in field goal attempts. He's really good about getting to the rim and shooting the three. He's a really good scorer and player. Pittsburgh transfer [Au'Diese] Toney is an excellent offensive rebounder and scorer. Both of those guys make the team older as veterans."

"They also have Jaylin Williams and [Connor] Vanover back who had a lot of experience up front. Williams is going to be a very good player and Vanover presents a lot of problems for us because of his length and size. He had 13 points against us a year ago. They have great players and are very well coached."

SERIES HISTORY
The Bulldogs have won six of the last seven meetings with the Razorbacks under Howland to trim the overall series edge for Arkansas down to 34-31.

The home team has posted a 44-15 record with State owning a 22-7 mark in games played in Starkville. The Razorbacks secured a 61-45 decision in last season's lone meeting at Bud Walton Arena. Prior to that, State's six-game winning streak was the longest for the Bulldogs in the series.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT
The Razorbacks enter the contest on an 11-game winning streak during SEC regular season games. Arkansas is led by four players averaging double figures in J.D. Notae (18.0 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 3.2 APG, 2.7 SPG), Chris Lykes (13.2 PPG, 1.8 APG, 1.0 SPG), Au'Diese Toney (11.1 PPG, 6.2 RPG) and Davonte Davis (10.3 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 4.0 APG, 1.2 SPG).

Like Molinar for MSU, Notae has provided double figures in every game this season for the Hogs. He has eclipsed the 20-point barrier four times, headed by a 30-point, 7-steal effort against Mercer (11/09) and a 28-point, 9-rebound performance versus Penn (11/28). Notae's 18.0 points are second, while his 2.7 steals are tops in the SEC rankings.

Lykes has ripped off 10-plus points in four of his last five appearances and is coming off 21 points verses Elon (12/21). He has drained 61-of-70 at the foul line.

Stanley Umude (8.3 PPG, 4.3 RPG) has been Arkansas' top performer off the bench, whereas Jaylin Williams (6.7 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 3.4 APG, 1.1 SPG, 1.0 BPG) has drained 55.4 percent from the floor coupled with his 8.3 rebounds per contest ranking fifth in the SEC.

UP NEXT
Mississippi State plays a pair of the road to start the 2022 calendar year. First up, a trip to Missouri on Wednesday, January 5th for the Bulldogs first true road game of the 2021-22 campaign. Tip time is slated for 8 p.m. CT. The game will be televised by the SEC Network and streamed 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.

Gameday: Five Things To Know MSU-Arkansas

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Players Mentioned

Garrison Brooks

Cam Carter

Javian Davis

D.J. Jeffries

Cameron Matthews

Iverson Molinar

Shakeel Moore

Rocket Watts

Mississippi State University Athletics