Gameday: Five Things To Know About MSU-Minnesota

by Matt Dunaway, Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State welcomes undefeated Minnesota in a SEC-Big Ten matchup on Sunday afternoon at Humphrey Coliseum.

The Bulldogs (6-1) began the December portion of their schedule a 15-point victory over Lamar. State has won 39 of its last 40 non-conference home games since Dec. 22, 2016 headed by 13 consecutive victories under seventh-year coach Ben Howland.

The Gophers (6-0) head into the weekend's action as one of 13 remaining unbeaten teams in the nation. Last time out, Minnesota edged Pittsburgh 54-53 on a Lucas Loewe last-second tip-in as part of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

The Matchup: Mississippi State (6-1, 0-0 SEC) vs. Minnesota (6-0, 0-0 Big Ten)
Where: Starkville, Mississippi – Humphrey Coliseum
When: Sunday, December 5, 1:00 p.m. CT
Live Stats: StatBroadcast (https://hailst.at/MBKLiveStats)

Stream: ESPNU
Talent: Roy Philpott, Mark Wise
DirecTV: Ch. 208, Dish: Ch. 141, AT&T U-Verse: Ch. 1605, MaxxSouth: Ch. 1162, C Spire: Ch. 206
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 the weekend's action, Mississippi State holds top three marks on the SEC leaderboard in field goal percentage (48.5 – 1st), three-point field goal percentage (38.1 – 2nd), rebounding margin (+12.6 – 2nd), offensive rebounding percentage (37.6 – 2nd), defensive rebounding percentage (77.5 – 2nd) and field goal percentage defense (37.9 – 3rd).

The Bulldogs have limited four of their first five opponents to 60 points or less at home. State has bottled up the opposition to 53.6 points, a 36.1 field goal percentage and a 31.0 three-point clip in home games.

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 used a season's best 15 points courtesy of Rocket Watts to upend Lamar, 75-60, on Thursday. State drained its first five field goal attempts to build an early 14-4 advantage. Lamar drew to within eight points midway through the second half before Watts canned back-to-back triples to give the Bulldogs some breathing room.

Tolu Smith made it back-to-back double-doubles with 14 points and 11 rebounds, all coming after halftime. Iverson Molinar rattled home a team-leading 17 points aided by a trio of three-pointers, and Garrison Brooks nearly collected his first double-double in Maroon and White with 10 points and nine rebounds.

4. Iverson Molinar is one of five SEC players to score in double figures during every one of his team's games this season. The list includes fellow All-SEC Preseason First-Team picks in Colin Castleton (Florida), JD Notae (Arkansas) and Jaden Shackelford (Alabama) along with Jarkel Joiner (Ole Miss).

Molinar is the only SEC player to rank among the league's top 10 in points (16.0 – Tied for 4th) and assists (4.7 – 6th). He has pumped home at least 15 points and five assists during four of his seven outings. Molinar's 3.67 assist-to-turnover ratio also is second on the SEC leaderboard

5. Mississippi State's transfer class of Garrison Brooks, D.J. Jeffries, Shakeel Moore and Rocket Watts has amassed 2,628 career points and 121 career games in double figures. Their teams have posted a combined 89-32 record when providing 10-plus points headed by Jeffries' 25-5 and Watts' 17-2 marks, respectively.

Brooks holds the top spot among SEC active players with 847 career rebounds and sits sixth among SEC's active players with 1,351 career points. Moore has posted 2.4 steals per game, which checks in fifth in the SEC rankings.

SERIES HISTORY
Sunday's game is the first matchup on the hardwood between Mississippi State and Minnesota. The last time the Bulldogs took on Big Ten opponents was an opening round win over Nebraska before falling to Penn State in the 2018 NIT Semifinals.

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM – HEAD COACH BEN HOWLAND
"Minnesota has a very experienced team. Their starting lineup has four guys who are all in their fifth year of college. They really know how to play and really understand tempo. They're playing seven guys. Because of that, they're going to be very patient in their offense. The biggest challenge to me is being patient defensively. Secondly, within that, is making sure that we're right on top of [Payton] Willis and [Jamison] Battle – two guys who are top 10 scorers in the Big Ten."

"It [their game at Pittsburgh] was a hard-fought game and a very physical game. I thought [Eric] Curry was very physical inside, and I was impressed with him. I also was very impressed with [Sean] Sutherlin and [E.J.] Stevens. They showed a lot of poise and won the game because of two offensive rebounds by their guards. Willis got an offensive rebound and put it back in to tie the game. Then, [Luke] Loewe dunked it in to win the game. They are a very intelligent team that knows how to play."

"We've got to get better at our execution offensively. We've got to make sure we're making good selections with our shots and then also make sure that we're staying in front of the ball and not getting beat so much on penetration. That hurt us in our last game because we were extended too far out. We have to do a better job staying in front of the ball."

"We try and win the glass against every opponent we play. This is a Big Ten team that also shoots a lot of three's. There are going to be a lot of long rebounds that we're going to have to box out for because they do a good job attacking the glass themselves."

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT
The Gophers unblemished mark in highlighted by a road win at Pitt (54-53 on 11/30) along with neutral court victories over Western Kentucky (73-69 on 11/12) and Princeton (87-80 on 11/14).

Minnesota has three players in double figures led by Jamison Battle (17.5 PPG, 6.3 RPG). He has ripped 10-plus points in all six games, fueled by 24 points and 11 rebounds against Princeton. Battle also tallied a 20-point effort versus Western Kentucky.

Payton Willis (16.3 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 3.3 APG, 1.8 SPG) has collected double digit points on five occasions. His season's best performance was 29 points and 10 rebounds during the Western Kentucky game.

E.J. Stephens (11.0, 4.0 RPG, 1.8 SPG) have teamed up with Battle and Willis to drain 41 of Minnesota's 43 three-pointers for the season.

UP NEXT
Mississippi State returns to action following its final exam break and could potentially meet another undefeated team in Colorado State from the Mountain West Conference. Next Saturday's matchup is set for a 1 pm. CT tip from Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, 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.

Gameday: Five Things To Know About MSU-Minnesota

Players Mentioned

Garrison Brooks

D.J. Jeffries

Iverson Molinar

Shakeel Moore

Tolu Smith III

Rocket Watts

Mississippi State University Athletics