Gameday: Five Things To Know MSU-Arkansas

by Matt Dunaway, Director/Communications

FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas – Mississippi State men's basketball team wraps up the first half of the SEC slate and travels to face off against one of the SEC's hottest teams in Arkansas on Saturday evening at Bud Walton Arena.

State (14-7, 5-3 SEC) is looking for the program's first true road win of the season. Three of the team's four setbacks on the road have come against NCAA NET Quad 1 opponents. The Bulldogs are in the midst of six of seven games versus quad one competition from Jan. 25-Feb. 16 with trips to LSU and Alabama on the horizon later this month.

The Maroon and White enter the weekend in sole possession of fifth place in the SEC standings. State trails Arkansas and Tennessee by a half-game for the third spot.

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.

The Razorbacks (17-5, 6-3 SEC) have ripped off seven consecutive games since beginning SEC action with an 0-3 conference mark. Last time out, Arkansas turned in its most impressive performance of the streak fueled by 15 treys during an 99-73 road victory over Georgia (02/02).

The Matchup: Mississippi State (14-7, 5-3 SEC) at Arkansas (17-5, 6-3 SEC)
Where: Fayetteville, Arkansas – Bud Walton Arena
When: Saturday, February 5, 7:30 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. 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 (47.6 – 2nd), rebounding margin (+7.9 – 2nd) and defensive rebounding percentage (75.9 – 3rd).

The +7.9 rebounding margin for State is 13th 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. 24 nationally with a 113.2 offensive efficiency rating according to KenPom.com. The Bulldogs have finished among the nation's top 25 in that category during three of the last four seasons.

State sits at No. 22 in the ESPN BPI, checks in at No. 40 in the KenPom.com ratings and holds the No. 47 spot in the NCAA NET rankings. Four of the seven losses for the Bulldogs have come against NCAA Quad 1 opponents on the road or at a neutral site with three of those setbacks coming 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 100 victories since the start of 2017-18. The 100 wins are sixth among SEC teams behind Auburn (115), Kentucky (108), Tennessee (107), Arkansas (103) and LSU (102).

3. Last time out, Garrison Brooks got the Bulldogs rolling with 17 first-half points as Mississippi State led wire-to-wire during a 78-64 victory over South Carolina on Tuesday.

Iverson Molinar tacked on another 20-point effort fueled by a 10-for-10 clip at the free throw line, while Rocket Watts provided a lift off the bench with 11 points. D.J. Jeffries came away with a solid all-around effort with 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

State opened the contest going 11-for-17 and used an 18-2 flurry en route to a 45-23 halftime advantage. The 22-point halftime advantage equaled the largest for the Bulldogs against a SEC opponent under Ben Howland.

The Marron and White shot 54.0 percent for the contest and connected on 15 of its 27 field goals inside the paint.

4. Iverson Molinar is the only SEC player to score in double figures in every game his team has played in this season. His streak of 21 straight outings to start a season with 10-plus points is the longest for a MSU player since Tony Watts reached double figures during all 28 games in 1991-92.

Molinar along with Alabama's Jahvon Quinerly are two of eight Power 5 players to be ranked among top 10 of their respective leagues in points (18.1 – 3rd), field goal percentage (49.8 – 3rd) and assists (4.1 – 8th). The list includes Terrell Brown, Jr. (Washington), Mike Miles, Jr. (TCU), Isaiah Mobley (Southern Cal), Will Richardson (Oregon), Alondes Williams (Wake Forest) and Payton Willis (Minnesota).

Molinar also is ranked among the SEC leaders in free throw percentage (88.2 – 1st), and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.15 – 4th).

Molinar became the 41st player in MSU history and eighth during Howland's MSU tenure to eclipse 1,000 career points with a 20-point performance against Ole Miss (01/22). He enters Saturday's action 15 points shy of surpassing Larry Fry (1973-74-75) on the program's all-time scoring list for 35th place.

Molinar has amassed at least 15 points and five assists in seven games this season. The seven games of 15-5 are tied for 3rd among Power 5 players with Wendell Moore, Jr. (Duke) and Alondes Williams (Wake Forest). The trio trails only Baylor's James Akinjo and Syracuse's Joseph Girard.

Tolu Smith is the SEC's defending rebounding champion and racked up the most double-doubles among SEC players last season. He is considered questionable to return after being injured during the Ole Miss game (01/22). Smith has garnered 10-plus in six of his eight appearances this season.

If Smith qualified for the SEC leaderboard, he would rank 1st in field goal percentage (61.9), 9th in rebounds (6.6) and 13th in points (13.3). He has tallied a pair of double-doubles over his eight appearances in 2021-22, headed by a 22-point, 11-rebound performance against Richmond (11/27).

During Smith's absence, Cameron Matthews has stepped up to provide 6.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.8 steals and 2.3 assists per game in four SEC starts. Six of his top eight career scoring performances have come in 2021-22. He fired in a SEC career-best 10 points versus Georgia (01/12).

5. Mississippi State's transfer class of Garrison Brooks, D.J. Jeffries, Shakeel Moore and Rocket Watts has amassed 3,132 career points and 147 career games in double figures. Their teams have posted a combined 106-41 record when providing 10-plus points headed by Jeffries' 31-7 and Watts' 18-3 marks, respectively.

Brooks holds the top spot among SEC active players and is second among Power 5 players nationally with 933 career rebounds in addition to sitting fifth among SEC's active players with 1,514 career points. He has pumped in 10-plus points during four of his last six outings.

Brooks matched his season's best with 18 points versus South Carolina (02/01). He has posted 17.0 points and 7.7 rebounds per game over his last three home outings which also includes a 16-point, 10-rebound effort against No. 24 Alabama (01/15).

Mississippi State is 10-2 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 at Ole Miss (01/08). The Olive Branch product has fired in 10-plus points in three of his last four games.

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

Moore has had 10 of 15 career games of 10-plus points come this season at MSU. He has registered double figures in four of eight SEC appearances. 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 12 occasions this season and his 1.8 steals per game check in 10th on the SEC leaderboard. He has drained a team-leading 34 three-pointers at a 37.0 percent clip and has connected on multiple treys during five of his eight SEC outings.

Watts has delivered double-digit points in two of his last three games and accounted for 53.0 percent of his season's points during seven SEC appearances. He is coming off a SEC-best 11 points aided by three triples during the South Carolina game (02/01). Watts' season-high is 15 points versus Lamar (12/02).

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM – HEAD COACH BEN HOWLAND
"Arkansas is playing great defense. They really have shortened their bench, changed the starting lineup and are playing more physical. They switch everything if they want, because of their size at the four and five spots. They're also experienced. They have lots of graduate transfers that have been through wars."

"[Trey] Wade has really been an unsung hero for them. He's a glue guy. He does all the dirty work and does some of everything. He's a tough, hard-nosed guy. [Jaylin] Williams is an all-league player. He's a very complete player. He probably leads the league in charges taken. He's taken over 30 which is amazing. He's shot 40 percent from three in their last seven wins."

"[JD] Notae is the leading scorer in the league; [Au'Diese] Toney is a great distributor and offensive rebounder. [Stanley] Umude is playing outstanding and had six three's in their last outing against Georgia. [Chris] Lykes came off of the bench and played great. They have very good chemistry and have bought into their style of play, especially at the defensive side of the floor."

"Players like that love to win and to have fun. They help their team win and are hard-nosed kids. That's who Cam [Cameron Matthews] is. He's a win first player. You love guys like that who do all the dirty work, all the blue-collar stuff."

"I don't harp on that, but the team is all aware that we need to win a road game. We have a lot of tough ones coming up in a row here. It's going to take a monumental performance from our guys to get one, and that's what we're looking to do."

SERIES HISTORY
The Bulldogs have won seven of the last eight meetings with the Razorbacks under head coach Ben Howland to trim the overall series edge for Arkansas down to 34-32.

The home team has posted a 45-15 record in the series. The Razorbacks have won 23 of the 30 all-time meetings in Fayetteville.

Under Eric Musselman, Arkansas is 7-1 in SEC games where the Razorbacks dropped the first meeting. The lone exception was Mississippi State's 78-77 win on Abdul Ado's last-second tip-in in Fayetteville for a two-game sweep during the 2019-20 campaign.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT
Arkansas has a trio of players averaging in double figure headed by the SEC's points and steals leader in JD Notae (19.0 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 3.5 APG, 2.4 SPG) who has posted double figures in all 21 of his appearances this season. He has two outings of 30-plus points and eight performances of 20-plus points. Most recently, Notae stuffed the stats sheet with 23 points, nine rebounds, six assist and three steals at Georgia (02/02).

Au'Diese Toney (11.0 PPG, 5.3 RPG) and Stanley Umude (10.9 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 1.0 SPG) have reeled off double digit points in four of the team's last five games. Toney nearly compiled a 20-10 effort with 19 points and seven rebounds versus West Virginia (01/29) during the Big 12/SEC Challenge. Umude exploded for a career-best 31 points aided by six treys at Georgia (02/02).

Jaylin Williams (9.4 PPG, 9.1 RPG, 3.0 APG, 1.5 SPG, 1.3 BPG) has worked his way to double-doubles in five of last eight outings. He came away with 12 points and 15 rebounds during the West Virginia game and has hit on 51.0 percent of his shot attempts for the season.

As of late, Chris Lykes (9.4 PPG, 1.7 APG) and Davonte Davis (8.8 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 3.4 APG, 1.0 SPG) have been the top options for the Razorbacks off the bench.

UP NEXT
Mississippi State returns home for another NCAA NET Quad 1 challenge as No. 22 Tennessee visits Humphrey Coliseum on Wednesday. Tip time is on-tap for 8 p.m. CT from Humphrey Coliseum, televised by ESPN2 and streaming 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-Arkansas

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Abdul Ado

Garrison Brooks

D.J. Jeffries

Cameron Matthews

Iverson Molinar

Shakeel Moore

Tolu Smith III

Rocket Watts

Mississippi State University Athletics