Gameday: Five Things To Know MSU-Missouri

by Matt Dunaway, Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State's men's basketball takes on Missouri in a very rare and unique home-and-home series over the weekend.

The Bulldogs (14-11, 5-7 SEC) and the Tigers (10-15, 4-8 SEC) will meet on Friday at 6 p.m. CT at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville followed by a Sunday tilt at 7 p.m. CT at Mizzou Arena in Columbia.

Entering the weekend, Mississippi State sits in ninth place in the SEC standings. The Bulldogs are a half-game behind Florida and South Carolina and hold a half-game advantage over Missouri 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.

Missouri has split its last four games which includes wins over Texas A&M (70-66 on 02/05) and Ole Miss (74-68 on 02/12) in addition to setback to Vanderbilt (70-62 on 02/08) and newly-minted No. 23 Arkansas (76-57 on 02/15).

The Matchup: Mississippi State (14-11, 5-7 SEC) vs. Missouri (10-15, 4-8 SEC)
Where: Starkville, Mississippi – Humphrey Coliseum
When: Friday, February 18, 6:00 p.m. CT
Where: Columbia, Missouri – Mizzou Arena
When: Sunday, February 20, 7:00 p.m. CT
Live Stats: StatBroadcast (https://hailst.at/MBKLiveStats)

TV: SEC Network+ (Watch ESPN App Only – Friday); SEC Network (Watch ESPN App – Sunday)
Talent: Bart Gregory & Charlie Winfield (Friday); Dave Neal & Jon Sundvold (Sunday)
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
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 field goal percentage (46.4 – 2nd), rebounding margin (+6.4 – 2nd) and defensive rebounding percentage (74.9 – 3rd).

The +6.4 rebounding margin for State is 26th nationally. The Bulldogs have rated among the nation's top 30 in rebounding margin during each of the last three seasons.

The Maroon and White is rated No. 29 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. 25 in the ESPN BPI, checks in at No. 42 in the KenPom.com ratings and holds the No. 51 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 (118), Kentucky (111), Tennessee (111), Arkansas (106) and LSU (105).

3. Last time out, Mississippi State held a seven-point lead at the 7:45 mark of the second half, but No. 25 Alabama scored 18 of the next 20 points to key an 80-75 win.

Iverson Molinar was steady yet again with a game-leading 22 points, four assists and three steals, while D.J. Jeffries dialed up 15 points and six rebounds. Cam Carter made the most of his first start in Maroon and White with a season's best 15 points aided by a season-high three treys.

Key stats for Alabama included a 44-30 advantage in paint points and a 48-36 rebounding edge. The Crimson Tide also tallied 30 of the game's 41 points off the bench. Darius Miles, JD Davidson and James Rojas combined for 28 points and 18 rebounds.

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 25-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 joined by Vanderbilt's Scotty Pippen Jr. and one of six Power 5 players to be ranked among the top 10 of their respective leagues in points (18.6 – 3rd), field goal percentage (47.8 – 5th) and assists (3.9 – 9th). The list also includes Terrell Brown, Jr. (Washington), Will Richardson (Oregon), Alondes Williams (Wake Forest) and Payton Willis (Minnesota).

Molinar is ranked among the SEC leaders in free throw percentage (89.4 – 1st), and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.92 – 5th). He has scored or assisted on 38.4 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 weekend's action 21 points shy of being able to pass Marckell Patterson (1999-2000-01-02) 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 four players. The quintet 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 12 appearances this season.

If Smith qualified for the SEC leaderboard, he would rank 3rd in field goal percentage (57.0) and 13th in rebounds (6.0). 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 3,232 career points and 152 career games in double figures. Their teams have posted a combined 106-46 record when providing 10-plus points headed by Jeffries' 31-9 and Watts' 18-3 marks, respectively.

Brooks holds the top spot among SEC active players and is second among Power 5 players nationally with 969 career rebounds in addition to sitting fifth among SEC's active players with 1,560 career points. He has pumped in 10-plus points during four of his last five 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 10-4 when Jeffries scores in double figures. He amassed a season's best 19 points against Winthrop (12/21) and his SEC season-high is 15 points at No. 25 Alabama (02/16) . The Olive Branch product has fired in 10-plus points in four of his last six games.

Jeffries has showcased his versatility with 11 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 1.6 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.

SERIES HISTORY
Mississippi State holds a 10-5 series advantage on the strength of winning nine of the last 10 meetings dating back to the 2014-15 season.

In last year's meeting, the Bulldogs overcame a 12-point halftime deficit behind a 51-point second half in a 78-63 triumph over No. 13 Missouri in Starkville. Iverson Molinar and D.J. Stewart Jr. amassed 36 points on a collective 14-of-20 shooting effort during the second 20 minutes.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT
The Tigers are led by Kobe Brown (12.6 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.6 APG, 1.4 SPG) who has piled up six games of 20-plus points on the season. He has collected five double-doubles. Brown's top performance on the season was a 30-point, 13-rebound during Mizzou's upset of No. 15 Alabama.

Javon Pickett (10.0 PPG, 1.6 APG) has ripped off double figures in nine of his last 10 appearances. His highest scoring output against a SEC opponent was a 17-point in a near upset of top-ranked Auburn (01/25).

Amari Davis (9.9 PPG, 0.9 SPG), Jarron Coleman (9.3 PPG, 3.0 APG), Dajuan Gordon (8.9 PPG, 4.2 RPG) and Ronnie DeGray III (8.2 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 1.0 SPG) complete Missouri's balanced attack of six players averaging at least eight points per contest.

DeGray III has done a majority of his damage off the bench and hit for double-digit points in three of his last five outings headed by a SEC season's best 14 points versus Ole Miss (02/12). Gordon has canned a team-leading 37.7 percent of his three-point attempts and drained multiple treys in four of his last six appearances. He amassed 15 points apiece during the Alabama (01/08) and Iowa State (01/29) games.

UP NEXT
After its weekend series with Missouri, Mississippi State heads east to face off with South Carolina on Wednesday. Tip time is slated for 5:30 p.m. CT from Colonial Life Arena televised by SEC Network and 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-Missouri

Players Mentioned

Garrison Brooks

Cam Carter

D.J. Jeffries

Iverson Molinar

Shakeel Moore

Tolu Smith III

D.J. Stewart Jr.

Rocket Watts

Mississippi State University Athletics