Gameday: Five Things To Know MSU-South Carolina

by Matt Dunaway, Director/Communications

COLUMBIA, South Carolina – A late February swing game is on the horizon for Mississippi State's men's basketball team as the Bulldogs visit South Carolina to conclude the seventh consecutive home-and-home series between the two programs Wednesday at Colonial Life Arena.

Both teams enter the second to last week of the regular season joined by Alabama, Florida and LSU in a five-way logjam for fifth place in the SEC standings. Arkansas and Tennessee are three games clear of the group for the last two double byes at next month's SEC Tournament.

A balanced scoring effort has been key to Mississippi State's success this season. The Bulldogs have posted a 11-1 mark when at least four players register 10-plus points. State (16-11, 7-7 SEC) has accomplished that feat during five of its seven SEC victories.

South Carolina (16-10, 7-7 SEC) has pieced together three consecutive wins and victories in six of its last nine outings going back to late January. Last time out, Jermaine Couisnard exploded for a career-best 33 points to fuel a 77-75 overtime victory over LSU.

The Matchup: Mississippi State (16-11, 7-7 SEC) vs. South Carolina (16-10, 7-7 SEC)
Where: Columbia, South Carolina – Colonial Life Arena
When: Wednesday, February 23, 5:30 p.m. CT
Live Stats: StatBroadcast (https://hailst.at/MBKLiveStats)

TV: SEC Network (Watch ESPN App)
Talent: Roy Philpott & Mark Wise
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

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM – COACH HOWLAND
"South Carolina playing really well, I do know that. They've won a couple of road games at Georgia and at Ole Miss [since we last played them]. That Ole Miss game was incredible because they made a half-court, banking buzzer beater at the end of overtime to win it."
"Their best win of the season might be that LSU win at home on Saturday. They're playing like one of the best teams in the conference right now. One of the biggest things is that [Jermaine] Couisnard is really stepping up his game. I voted for him to be a preseason all-league player. He had a lot of injuries early on but has really rounded into shape. He had 33 points against LSU and was phenomenal in that game. He's well rounded on both sides of the floor."

"We didn't attack the [South Carolina] press well in the last three minutes of the game [in Starkville]. I thought our guys lost a little bit of focus. We had a number of turnovers that led to easy scores. We've got to play the whole 40 minutes. Credit goes to them, it's a Frank Martin coached team which means they never give up. They never quit, and they're going to fight until the bitter end. We know this is going to be a very difficult game in Columbia. We've got to be ready for it."

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 (46.2 – 2nd), rebounding margin (+6.4 – 2nd) and defensive rebounding percentage (74.8 – 3rd).

The +6.4 rebounding margin for State is 23rd nationally. The Bulldogs have rated among the nation's top 30 in rebounding margin during each of the last three seasons.

State sits at No. 26 in the ESPN BPI, checks in at No. 38 in the KenPom.com ratings and holds the No. 47 spot in the NCAA NET rankings.

Eight of the 11 losses for the Bulldogs have come against NCAA Quad 1 opponents this season. Seven of the eight losses have come on the road or at a neutral site with seven of the setbacks also have come by single digits.

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 102 victories since the start of 2017-18. The 102 wins are sixth among SEC teams behind Auburn (118), Kentucky (112), Tennessee (112), Arkansas (107) and LSU (105).

3. Last time out, Mississippi State scored the final five points of the game to earn its first true road win of the season, a 58-56 decision at Missouri on Sunday.

Iverson Molinar provided the equalizer with a left-handed layup off an inbounds play with 37 seconds left. Then, Shakeel Moore went coast-to-coast with a driving layup through contact with 10 seconds to go for the game-winner.

Molinar led the way with 16 points followed by Garrison Brooks' 11 points and seven rebounds. Moore and Andersson Garcia were State's top performers off the bench. Moore tallied nine points, seven rebounds and two steals, whereas Garcia tacked on six points, six rebounds and two steals.

A key stat for the Bulldogs included a 38-30 rebounding advantage. The Maroon and White also converted on 17-of-24 at the foul line.
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 27-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 enters Wednesday's contest seven points away from his second straight season with 500 points.

Molinar is joined by Vanderbilt's Scotty Pippen Jr. and one of seven Power 5 players to be ranked among the top 10 of their respective leagues in points (18.3 – 3rd), field goal percentage (48.0 – 5th) and assists (3.8 – 10th). The list also includes Terrell Brown, Jr. (Washington), Isaiah Mobley (Southern Cal), Will Richardson (Oregon), Alondes Williams (Wake Forest) and Payton Willis (Minnesota).

Molinar is ranked among the SEC leaders in free throw percentage (87.8 – 2nd), and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.82 – 5th). He has scored or assisted on 37.9 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 players on the program's all-time scoring list which would include Mario Austin (2001-02-03), Leland Mitchell (1961-62-63) and Dave Williams (1966-67-68) to move into 26th 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 4th among Power 5 players with three players. The quartet trails Baylor's James Akinjo, Washington's Terrell Brown, Jr. and Duke's Wendell Moore, Jr.

Tolu Smith is the SEC's defending rebounding champion and racked up the most double-doubles among SEC players last season. If he qualified for the SEC leaderboard, Smith would rank 4th in field goal percentage (57.0) and 13th in rebounds (5.9).

Three of Smith's top four scoring efforts have come versus SEC opponents this season: 18 points against Arkansas (12/29), 17 points at Florida (01/19) and 16 points versus Missouri (02/18). He has garnered 10-plus in nine of his 14 appearances in 2021-22 and in 29 of his 44 career games at Mississippi State.

5. Mississippi State's transfer class of Garrison Brooks, D.J. Jeffries, Shakeel Moore and Rocket Watts has amassed 3,282 career points and 155 career games in double figures. Their teams have posted a combined 109-46 record when providing 10-plus points headed by Jeffries' 32-9 and Watts' 18-3 marks, respectively.

Brooks holds the top spot among SEC active players and is second among Power 5 players nationally with 983 career rebounds in addition to sitting fifth among SEC's active players with 1,581 career points. He has pumped in 10-plus points during six of his last seven outings.

Brooks matched his season's best with 18 points versus South Carolina (02/01). He has posted 15.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game over his last five 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.

Brooks is 17 rebounds shy of becoming the only active Power 5 player with over 1,500 career points and 1,000 career rebounds.

Mississippi State is 11-4 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, 7 games of 3-plus assists, 5 games of 2-plus blocks and 5 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 5ccasions this season and his 1.6 steals per game check in 12th on the SEC leaderboard. He has drained a team-leading 38 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
The Bulldogs have won seven of their last nine outings with South Carolina since the 2017-18 season. State has won the last three meetings in the series by 14, 16 and 21 points, respectively. Overall, the Maroon and White possesses a 26-16 series advantage.

Garrison Brooks got the Bulldogs rolling with 17 first-half points during State's 78-64 wire-to-wire win over the Gamecocks earlier this season. Iverson Molinar tacked on another 20-point effort fueled by a 10-for-10 clip at the free throw line.

The Bulldogs opened the contest going 11-for-17 from the floor and used an 18-2 flurry en route to a 45-23 halftime advantage. For the game, State shot 54.0 percent for the contest and connected on 15 of its 27 field goals inside the paint.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT
South Carolina has three players averaging in double figures which include Erik Stevenson (11.4 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 2.6 APG, 1.1 SPG), Jermaine Couisnard (11.0 PPG, 2.9 APG, 1.1 SPG) and James Reese V (10.3 PPG, 2.0 APG, 1.0 SPG). The trio has accounted for 123 of the team's 178 triples.

Stevenson has posted double figures in six of his last nine outings. His season's best are 25-point efforts against Wofford (11/23) and No. 9 Auburn (01/04). Stevenson has hit for double figures in 11 of 13 games when he's connected on multiple three-pointers.

The Gamecocks are 4-1 in SEC action when Couisnard reaches 10-plus points this season. He's returned to the starting lineup during South Carolina's most recent three-game winning streak. Last time out, Couisnard racked up a career-best 33 points aided by five treys versus LSU (02/19).

Reese V garnered 15 points on a 7-for-9 shooting clip in the first meeting with Mississippi State. Wildens Leveque (7.5 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 1.0 BPG) has been South Carolina's top option on the interior, while Devin Carter (9.3 PPG, 17 APG) has provided a spark with double figures in three straight games off the bench. Carter notched a SEC season-high 21 points at Georgia (02/12).

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs wrap up the regular season with two of their last three games inside Humphrey Coliseum. First up, a Saturday matinee against Vanderbilt. Tip time is scheduled for 12 p.m. CT 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-South Carolina

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Garrison Brooks

Andersson Garcia

D.J. Jeffries

Iverson Molinar

Shakeel Moore

Tolu Smith III

Rocket Watts

Mississippi State University Athletics