Gameday: Five Things To Know MSU-Vanderbilt

by Matt Dunaway, Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State's men's basketball team heads into the home stretch of the regular season as the Bulldogs welcome Vanderbilt to Humphrey Coliseum for a Saturday matinee.

Entering the weekend, two games separate 5th from 11th place in the SEC standings. State (16-12, 7-8 SEC) sits in a three-way tie with Florida and LSU for the 7th spot.

The three teams trail Alabama and South Carolina who play each other Saturday for 5th place. The trio is one game clear of Texas A&M and Vanderbilt for the 10th spot.

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 has accomplished that feat during five of its seven SEC victories.

Vanderbilt (14-13, 6-9 SEC) split its most recent home games, a 72-67 victory over Texas A&M followed by a tightly-contested 74-72 setback to No. 24 Alabama. Scotty Pippen Jr., the SEC's leading scorer, dialed up 26 points, eight assists and six steals.

The Matchup: Mississippi State (16-12, 7-8 SEC) vs. Vanderbilt (14-13, 6-9 SEC)
Where: Starkville, Mississippi – Humphrey Coliseum
When: Saturday, February 26, 12:00 p.m. CT
Live Stats: StatBroadcast (https://hailst.at/MBKLiveStats)

TV: SEC Network (Watch ESPN App)
Talent: Kevin Fitzgerald & Dane Bradshaw
DirecTV: Ch. 611, Dish: Ch. 404/408, AT&T U-Verse: Ch. 1607, MaxxSouth: Ch. 1026, 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
"We talked about the game yesterday prior to doing our walkthrough of Vanderbilt. I showed them some edits of the game after we were done with the walkthrough. They were really disappointed by how we played. We've got to be a lot better than that to have a chance at success tomorrow. Those were the points I was making."

"We have to improve and grow. We can never stop growing. You're either getting better or you're falling backwards. You never stay the same, and I want to finish on a strong note. We have back-to-back home games. Then, one more on the road before we head off to the SEC tournament. Right now, the most important game is against Vanderbilt. They came in here and beat us last year. So, they'll have that in their minds. They'll have a lot of confidence.

"Vanderbilt is older and very experienced. They're much improved from where they were a year ago. The addition of [Liam] Robbins, who hasn't played much this year due to injury, gives them a seven-foot center. He transferred from Minnesota and is really skilled. He's a very good player and a good shooter. He's a smart player and is a big addition for them. He makes them a lot better. They have one of the premiere players in the conference in Scotty Pippen Jr., and Jordan Wright is an outstanding player as well. Myles Stute and Trey Thomas are two of the best shooters in the league. They have a nice blend. They have a lot of depth, and their defense is outstanding as well."

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 (45.8 – 2nd), rebounding margin (+5.9 – 2nd) and defensive rebounding percentage (74.1 – 3rd).

State sits at No. 28 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.

Eight of the 12 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 (119), Kentucky (113), Tennessee (112), Arkansas (108) and LSU (105).

3. Last time out, Mississippi State was unable to collect back-to-back road wins as the Bulldogs fell to South Carolina, 66-56, playing its fourth game over a span of eight days.

Tolu Smith tallied 11 of his team-leading 21 points after halftime and shot 8-of-13 overall from the floor. Iverson Molinar was the only other Bulldog to reach double figures with 11 points. Off the bench, Shakeel Moore and Andersson Garcia teamed up for 11 combined points.

The Gamecocks took a 35-23 lead into halftime and stretched their advantage to 19 points midway through the second half before State rallied to cut the final margin to 10.
4. Iverson Molinar is the only SEC player to score in double figures in every game his team has played in this season. He and Ohio State's E.J. Liddell are the only two players nationally to accomplish the feat.

The 28-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. The Panama native has registered back-to-back seasons with over 500 points.

Molinar is joined by Vanderbilt's Scotty Pippen Jr. and one of seven Power 5 players to be ranked among the top 11 of their respective leagues in points (18.0 – 3rd), field goal percentage (47.5 – 6th) and assists (3.7 – 11th). 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 (87.6 – 2nd), and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.76 – 7th). He has scored or assisted on 37.6 percent of MSU's points this season.

Molinar is 12 points away from becoming the 28th player in MSU history and fifth during Coach Howland's tenure to eclipse 1,200 career points. He enters this weekend's action 32 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 5th among Power 5 players with three players. The quartet trails Baylor's James Akinjo, Washington's Terrell Brown, Jr., Duke's Wendell Moore, Jr. and North Carolina's Caleb Love.

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 (54.9) and 16th in rebounds (5.7) and 18th in points (12.4).

Four of Smith's top five scoring efforts have come versus SEC opponents this season: 21 points at South Carolina (02/23), 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 10 of his 15 appearances in 2021-22 and in 30 of his 45 career games at Mississippi State.

5. Mississippi State's transfer class of Garrison Brooks, D.J. Jeffries, Shakeel Moore and Rocket Watts has amassed 3,294 career points and 155 career games in double figures. The quartet has combined for 45.3 percent of State's points this season.

Brooks holds the top spot among SEC active players and is second among Power 5 players nationally with 991 career rebounds in addition to sitting fifth among SEC's active players with 1,583 career points. He has pumped in 10-plus points during six of his last eight 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 nine 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 three of his last six games.

Jeffries has showcased his versatility with 11 games of 5-plus rebounds, 8 games of 3-plus assists, 6 games of 2-plus steals and 5 games of 2-plus blocks.

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 16 occasions this season and his 1.7 steals per game check in 11th 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
Mississippi State has won three of the last four meetings since 2018-19 and five of the eight matchup under Ben Howland versus Vanderbilt.

Overall, the Commodores hold an 80-52 series advantage. State possesses a 35-24 edge in games played in Starkville and has won nine of the 12 meetings during the 2000s at Humphrey Coliseum.

The road team took both meetings last year. The Bulldogs won 84-81 in Nashville, while Vanderbilt took a 72-51 decision in Starkville. Iverson Molinar posted 22.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.0 steals per contest against the Commodores last season.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT
During SEC games, Vanderbilt has drained 35.7 percent of its three-point attempts. Conversely, the Commodores have limited their opponents to a 29.0 percent clip from three-point territory. Both marks are good enough for second on the SEC leaderboard.

Scotty Pippen Jr. (19.7 PPG, 4.1 APG, 3.6 RPG, 2.0 SPG) and Jordan Wright (11.9 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.5 SPG) are the top two scorers for Vanderbilt. Pippen Jr. has ripped off four consecutive outings of 20-plus points and accomplished the feat during seven of its last nine games. He piled up a season's best 33 points at No. 5 Kentucky (02/02).

Wright has provided 10-plus points in seven of his last nine appearances which includes a pair of double-doubles at No. 5 Kentucky (02/02) and versus Missouri (02/08). For the season, Wright has compiled five double-doubles, headed by 20 points and 12 rebounds at Georgia (01/15).

Myles Stute (8.3 PPG, 3.4 RPG) and Trey Thomas (5.7 PPG) have combined for 91 of their 121 field goals from beyond the three-point line.

On the interior, Liam Robbins (6.5 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 2.2 BPG) has given the Commodores a boost as of late. He fired in a season's best 16 points against No. 24 Alabama (02/22) after he pumped in 14 points, nine rebounds and four blocks versus Texas A&M (02/19).

UP NEXT
Mississippi State plays host to its 2021-22 home finale against SEC frontrunner and No. 3 Auburn on Wednesday evening. Tip time for Senior Night is slated for 8 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-Vanderbilt

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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