Gameday: Five Things To Know MSU-No. 25 Alabama

by Matt Dunaway, Director/Communications

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama – Mississippi State's men's basketball wraps up one of the nation's most difficult schedule stretches with its fourth consecutive NCAA NET Quad 1 matchup and six of its last seven games being against quad 1 competition as the Bulldogs travel to No. 25 Alabama on Wednesday at Coleman Coliseum.

Like Wednesday's contest, State (14-10, 5-6 SEC) has faced five of those six NCAA NET Quad 1 games away from Humphrey Coliseum. Seven of the 10 losses for State have come against NCAA Quad 1 opponents. Six of the seven losses have come on the road or at a neutral site. Six of the setbacks also have come by single digits.

The Bulldogs enter the week in sole possession of eighth place in the SEC standings. State trails three teams which include the Crimson Tide (16-9, 6-6 SEC) by a half-game, and the Bulldogs are a half-game clear of South Carolina and Vanderbilt.

A balanced scoring effort has been key to Mississippi State's success this season. The Bulldogs have posted a 10-1 mark when at least four players register 10-plus points. State has accomplished that feat during four of its five SEC victories.

Alabama has won five of its last eight since State emerged with a 78-76 victory during the first meeting between the two programs. Last time out, the Crimson Tide stopped the SEC's longest winning streak with a 68-67 victory over Arkansas last Saturday.

The Matchup: Mississippi State (14-10, 5-6 SEC) at No. 25 Alabama (16-9, 6-6 SEC)
Where: Tuscaloosa, Alabama – Coleman Coliseum
When: Wednesday, February 16, 7:00 p.m. CT
Live Stats: StatBroadcast (https://hailst.at/MBKLiveStats)

TV: ESPN2 (Watch ESPN App)
Talent: Tom Hart, Jimmy Dykes
DirecTV: Ch. 209, Dish: Ch. 143, AT&T U-Verse: Ch. 1606, MaxxSouth: Ch. 1024, C Spire: Ch. 202
Online: Watch ESPN App (Cable Subscription Required)
(https://hailst.at/WatchESPN)

Radio: Mississippi State Sports Network – Powered by Learfield
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 (46.9 – 2nd), rebounding margin (+7.2 – 2nd) and defensive rebounding percentage (75.6 – 3rd).

The +7.2 rebounding margin for State is 16th nationally. The Bulldogs have rated among the nation's top 20 in rebounding margin during each of the last three seasons.

The Maroon and White is rated No. 27 nationally with a 112.5 offensive efficiency rating according to KenPom.com. The Bulldogs have finished among the nation's top 30 in that category during three of the last four seasons.

State sits at No. 27 in the ESPN BPI, checks in at No. 44 in the KenPom.com ratings and holds the No. 53 spot in the NCAA NET rankings.

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 100 victories since the start of 2017-18. The 100 wins are sixth among SEC teams behind Auburn (117), Kentucky (111), Tennessee (110), Arkansas (105) and LSU (104).

3. Last time out, Mississippi State wiped away a 15-point halftime deficit and took a three-point advantage midway through the second half before LSU came away with a 69-65 victory.

Iverson Molinar pumped home a game-leading 26 points, fueled by a flawless 10-for-10 clip at the free throw line. Tolu Smith added 15 points followed by Garrison Brooks' fourth double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds. The trio accounted for 36 of their 52 points during the second half.

Key stats for LSU included forcing the Maroon and White into 18 turnovers which resulted in 20 of the game's 28 points off miscues. LSU also tallied 35 of the contest's 40 points off the bench. Tari Eason, a frontrunner for the SEC's Sixth Man of the Year award, scored a team-leading 23 points.

4. Iverson Molinar is the only SEC player to score in double figures in every game his team has played in this season. He is one of three players nationally to accomplish the feat joined by E.J. Liddell (Ohio State) and Mark Sears (Ohio).

The 24-game streak for Molinar is the longest for a MSU player to start a season since Tony Watts scored 10+ PTS during all 28 games in 1991-92.

Molinar is the only SEC player and one of six Power 5 players to be ranked among the top 10 of their respective leagues in points (18.4 – 3rd), field goal percentage (48.6 – 4th) and assists (3.9 – 9th). The list also includes Terrell Brown, Jr. (Washington), Mike Miles, Jr. (TCU), Will Richardson (Oregon), Alondes Williams (Wake Forest) and Payton Willis (Minnesota).

Molinar is ranked among the SEC leaders in free throw percentage (89.5 – 1st), and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.88 – 5th). He has scored or assisted on 38.2 percent of MSU's points this season.
Molinar became the 41st player in MSU history and eighth during Coach Howland's tenure to eclipse 1,000 career points with a 20-point performance against Ole Miss (01/22). He enters this week's action 43 points shy of being able to pass three additional players on the program's all-time scoring list and move into 29th place.

Molinar has amassed at least 15 points and five assists in eight games this season. The eight games of 15-5 are tied for 2nd among Power 5 players with two players. The trio trails only Baylor's James Akinjo.

Tolu Smith is the SEC's defending rebounding champion and racked up the most double-doubles among SEC players last season. He has garnered 10-plus in eight of his 11 appearances this season.

If Smith qualified for the SEC leaderboard, he would rank 2nd in field goal percentage (58.6), 11th in rebounds (6.3) and 18th in points (12.6). He has tallied a pair of double-doubles in 2021-22, headed by a 22-point, 11-rebound performance against Richmond (11/27).

5. Mississippi State's transfer class of Garrison Brooks, D.J. Jeffries, Shakeel Moore and Rocket Watts has amassed 3,206 career points and 151 career games in double figures. Their teams have posted a combined 106-45 record when providing 10-plus points headed by Jeffries' 31-8 and Watts' 18-3 marks, respectively.

Brooks holds the top spot among SEC active players and is second among Power 5 players nationally with 963 career rebounds in addition to sitting fifth among SEC's active players with 1,552 career points. He has pumped in 10-plus points during seven of his last nine outings.

Brooks matched his season's best with 18 points versus South Carolina (02/01). He has posted 16.5 points and 7.8 rebounds per game over his last four home outings which also includes a 16-point, 10-rebound effort against No. 24 Alabama (01/15). Of his 19-career double-doubles, 15 have come against Power 5 competition.

Mississippi State is 10-3 when Jeffries scores in double figures. He amassed a season's best 19 points against Winthrop (12/21) and his SEC season-high is 13 points against No. 19 Tennessee (02/09) and at Ole Miss (01/08). The Olive Branch product has fired in 10-plus points in three of his last five games.

Jeffries has showcased his versatility with 10 games of 5-plus rebounds, 6 games of 3-plus assists, 5 games of 2-plus blocks and 4 games of 2-plus steals.

Moore has had 10 of 15 career games of 10-plus points come this season at MSU. The North Carolina native provided a SEC's season's best 18 points at Florida (01/19) coupled with a pair of 15-point efforts during SEC victories over Arkansas (12/29) and No. 24 Alabama (01/15).

Moore has collected multiple steals on 13 occasions this season and his 1.7 steals per game check in 12th on the SEC leaderboard. He has drained a team-leading 36 three-pointers.

Watts tallied back-to-back games in double figures at No. 13 Texas Tech (01/29) and against South Carolina (02/01) for the first time this season. His season-high is 15 points versus Lamar (12/02), and he's scored 53.0 percent of his points during SEC action.

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM – HEAD COACH BEN HOWLAND
"What really changes things is the time in between games [playing three games in five days]. You can't do as much physically because you're still trying to recover from the day before. We played Alabama one time this year … Today's practice we'll spend time getting ready for Alabama both offensively and defensively. We hate this the way it happened, but it was out of our control."

"Getting to the line 28 times would sure be nice. We did a great job attacking the glass the last time out [against Alabama]. I thought Andersson Garcia had a big part of that at both ends of the floor with seven rebounds, eight points and two charges. He did a really nice job for us in that game. They're a really experienced team. [Keon] Ellis is a really good player, freshman [JD] Davison is also very talented. They've got talented guards who can all score the basketball. I think they'll probably start out the same with [Juwan] Gary and [Noah] Gurley. It'll probably be the same lineup for them that we saw during our last matchup."

"They had a great win against Arkansas that came down to the wire on Saturday. Going into that game Arkansas was the hottest team in the league so that was a great win. They're not starting [Jahvon] Quinerly which is a big change. Now, he's coming off the bench. He's still an incredibly dangerous player. They shoot the ball a lot from three, 46 to 47 percent of their shots come from three-point range. They have a lot of guys who space the floor. [Jaden] Shackleford had eight three's on the road against Ole Miss and shot 60-percent from the field during the game. They're a very dangerous team when they shoot the ball. They've switched how they're starting their bigs. [Charles] Bediako came off the bench against Arkansas, but he played very well. He was a huge factor in that game. [Noah] Gurley was a big player down the stretch and made two shots to win them the game against Arkansas."

SERIES HISTORY
The Bulldogs are looking for their first two-game regular season sweep of Alabama going back to the 2007-08 season. The Crimson Tide have won 15 of the last 20 meetings en route to a 129-78 overall series advantage.

State claimed a 78-76 victory in Starkville earlier this season. Iverson Molinar amassed 24 points, six rebounds and four assists. Garrison Brooks provided a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Shakeel Moore fired 15 points. Andersson Garcia provided a spark from the bench with eight points and seven rebounds.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT
The Crimson Tide have won 11 of their 13 decisions at home, headlined recently by victories over defending national champion and then No. 4 Baylor (87-78 on 01/29) as part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge. Last time out, Alabama also halted the SEC's longest winning streak by edging Arkansas (68-67 on 02/12).

Jaden Shackleford (17.3 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 1.4 APG) and Jahvon Quinerly (13.9 PPG, 4.4 APG, 3.3 RPG) are ranked inside the SEC's top 10 scoring and have amassed a combined 40 games in double figures.

Shackleford has poured in 20-plus points in five of his last eight outings since the Mississippi State game. He amassed a season's best 30 points aided by eight three-pointers at Ole Miss (02/09). Quinerly has been in and out of the starting five over the last eight games. Most recently, he notched a pair of 20-point efforts against No. 4 Baylor (01/29) and at No. 1 Auburn (02/01).

Add in Keon Ellis (11.6 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 1.8 SPG), and the trio has drained 157 of the team's 229 treys on the season. He has reached double figures in eight of his last 12 outings and nearly secured his first double-double of SEC action with 15 points and nine rebounds at Georgia (01/25).

When Quinerly hasn't started, JD Davison (8.6 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 4.1 APG) stepped into the starting five for the Crimson Tide. The freshman provided SEC season's best with 18 points and eight assists at Ole Miss (02/09).

Alabama's interior is sparked by Charlies Bediako (6.4 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 1.6 BPG), Juwan Gary (7.8 PPG, 4.0 RPG) and Noah Gurley (7.4 PPG, 3.8 RPG). All three are shooting at over a 50 percent clip for the season.

UP NEXT
Mississippi State plays a rare home-and-home series with Missouri over the weekend. Friday's meeting is set for 6 p.m. CT from Humphrey Coliseum streamed online only by SEC Network+, while Sunday's matchup is slated for 7 p.m. CT from Mizzou Arena televised by SEC Network. Both games are available online courtesy of the ESPN app and www.ESPN.com/watch.

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-No. 25 Alabama

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Players Mentioned

Garrison Brooks

Andersson Garcia

D.J. Jeffries

Iverson Molinar

Shakeel Moore

Tolu Smith III

Rocket Watts

Mississippi State University Athletics