Gameday: Five Things To Know MSU-Ole Miss

by Matt Dunaway, Director/Communications

OXFORD, Mississippi – Mississippi State and Ole Miss will renew the SEC's most played basketball rivalry with the first of two meetings scheduled over a 15-day span when the two programs meet at The Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole Miss on Saturday evening.

The Bulldogs (10-3, 1-0 SEC) have equaled a season's best four-game winning streak, most recently an 81-68 victory over Arkansas during its SEC opener on Dec. 29. State has averaged 78.3 points per game and shot 51.2 percent from the field to fuel the four-game run.

Ole Miss (8-5, 0-1 SEC) was handed a 66-60 overtime defeat at No. 18 Tennessee on Wednesday. Tye Fagan and Matthew Murrell combined for 40 points fueled by a combined nine three-pointers, but the Rebels committed a season-high 27 turnovers.

Mississippi State has won five of its last six SEC road openers over Ole Miss since the 1993-94 season. However, the Rebels took the last meeting, a 64-58 decision on Jan. 6, 2018.

The Matchup: Mississippi State (10-3, 1-0 SEC) vs. Ole Miss (9-5, 0-1 SEC)
Where: Oxford, Mississippi – The Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole Miss
When: Saturday, January 8, 7:30 p.m. CT
Live Stats: StatBroadcast (https://hailst.at/MBKLiveStats)

TV: SEC Network (Watch ESPN App)
Talent: Dave Neal, Joe Kleine
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 weekend's action, Mississippi State holds top three marks on the SEC leaderboard in free throw percentage (74.3 – 1st), field goal percentage (47.6 – 2nd), three-point field goal percentage (35.6 – 2nd), rebounding margin (+10.8 – 2nd) and defensive rebounding percentage (78.0 – 3rd).

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

The +10.8 rebounding margin for State is 8th 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. 39 spot in the NCAA NET rankings and checks in at No. 38 in the KenPom.com ratings. The Bulldogs are scheduled to have a stretch of seven games over a 10-game span from Jan. 15-Feb. 16 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 96 victories since the start of 2017-18. The 96 wins are tied for fifth with Arkansas among SEC teams behind Auburn (107), Tennessee (102), Kentucky (101) and LSU (99).

3. Last time out, Mississippi State used a season-high 48-point second half to pull away from Arkansas, 81-68, during the SEC opener for both squads on Dec. 29. A key stat was State's ability to capitalize on 17 miscues by the Razorbacks en route to a 25-12 advantage in points off turnovers.

The Bulldogs had four players register 10-plus points for the third consecutive game and for the eighth time on the season. State is 7-1 in 2021-22 when accomplishing the feat.

Tolu Smith turned in a solid all-around effort with 18 points, six rebounds and a career-best five steals. He was an efficient 5-of-8 shooting and posted an 8-of-10 mark at the foul line during his return to the lineup after a four-game absence.

Iverson Molinar dialed up 16 points, five assists and four rebounds to make it 13 consecutive games with double-digit points to start the season. The 16 points enabled the Panama native to surpass 900 career points and move into the top 50 on the program's all-time scoring list.

Shakeel Moore chipped in 15 points, a season's best five assists and four steals to give himself double figures in four of his last five games. D.J. Jeffries garnered 10 points as State improved to 8-0 on the season when Jeffries has 10-plus points.

Javian Davis, Andersson Garcia and Rocket Watts provided a combined 20 points and drained eight of their 12 shot attempts. Davis also hauled down a season-high eight rebounds.

4. Iverson Molinar is joined by fellow All-SEC Preseason First-Team pick J.D. Notae (Arkansas) as the only SEC players to score in double figures during every game they've played in this season.

Molinar is the SEC player to be ranked among the top 5 in points (16.9 – 3rd) and assists (4.5 – 5th). He is one of three Power 5 players to rank in their respective league's top 5 in both categories. The others are Mike Miles Jr. (TCU – Big 12) and Alondes Williams (Wake Forest – ACC).

Molinar also is ranked among the SEC leaders in free throw percentage (88.9 – 1st), assist-to-turnover ratio (2.90 – 3rd) and field goal percentage (45.3 – 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 Saturday's action 97 points away from the milestone.

5. Mississippi State's transfer class of Garrison Brooks, D.J. Jeffries, Shakeel Moore and Rocket Watts has amassed 2,850 career points and 133 career games in double figures. Their teams have posted a combined 98-35 record when providing 10-plus points headed by Jeffries' 29-5 and Watts' 17-2 marks, respectively.

Brooks holds the top spot among SEC active players with 887 career rebounds and sits sixth among SEC's active players with 1,418 career points. He has pumped in 10-plus points during six of his last eight outings and matched a season's best with 18 points against Furman (12/17).

Jeffries has upped his marks to 14.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game during State's four-game winning streak. He amassed a season-high 19 points versus Winthrop (12/21).

Moore has posted seven of his 12 career games in double figures at MSU this season. He has collected multiple steals on 10 occasions this season and his 2.3 steals per game are second in the SEC rankings.

Watts has missed four games due to injury this season and piled up a season-high 15 points versus Lamar (12/02). He returned to the rotation with a 7-point effort during the Arkansas game (12/29).

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM – HEAD COACH BEN HOWLAND
"We emphasize rebounding because it's a big factor in whenever we're winning or losing. There's a lot of factors involved, but rebounding is one of the biggest. It's something I've always tried to stress as a coach. We've done a good job of it, especially at the defensive end of the floor. Our percentage numbers are good as well. So, we're getting a good number of those defensive rebounds. We also try to be pretty high up on the offensive end as well."

"The rivalry makes this a big game for both squads, and both fanbases would tell you that. Everyone involved in our program would echo that as well. At the end of the day, we have the oldest rivalry of any two teams involved in the SEC and SEC men's basketball. We share the same state as well. I have great respect for [Ole Miss Head Coach] Kermit [Davis] and his ability to coach their program. We're going to have to play our very best to have success against them tomorrow."

"The ability to pass, and the ability to understand where we're trying to get the ball moving to is important. We definitely have a better passing team than we did last season, and that should help us out a good deal when we face them."

SERIES HISTORY
The Bulldogs possess a 146-118 all-time series edge over Ole Miss. The two teams have split during the last four seasons. State's last two-game sweep came in 2010-11, whereas the Rebels claimed both meetings in 2016-17.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT
The Rebels have won seven of eight at home sparked by wins over Memphis (67-63 on 12/04) and Dayton (76-68 on 12/18).

Jarkel Joiner (14.8 PPG, 3.0 APG, 1.3 SPG) and Daeshun Ruffin (11.0 PPG, 2.6 APG, 2.4 SPG) are the top scorers for Ole Miss on the season. Joiner has collected 10-plus in 11 of 12 outings but was a DNP at No. 18 Tennessee due to injury.

Nysier Brooks (8.7 PPG, 7.9 RPG) has knocked down 60.5 percent of his field goal attempts and has garnered a pair of double-doubles this season. He came away with 16 points and 11 rebounds during the Dayton game (12/18).

Tye Fagan (7.8 PPG, 4.1 RPG) and Matthew Murrell (7.8 PPG) dialed up 23 and 17 points, respectively, last time out at No. 18 Tennessee (01/05). For Fagan, the Tennessee game was only his second start of the season, while Murrell has started the last four games for the Rebels.

UP NEXT
Mississippi State spends the following week back at Humphrey Coliseum with matchups against Georgia on Wednesday and No. 15 Alabama next Saturday. The UGA matchup is slated for a 6 p.m. CT tip time 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-Ole Miss

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Players Mentioned

Garrison Brooks

Javian Davis

Andersson Garcia

D.J. Jeffries

Iverson Molinar

Shakeel Moore

Tolu Smith III

Rocket Watts

Mississippi State University Athletics