Gameday: Five Things to Know MSU-Missouri

Saturday, February 4

Starkville

5:00 PM

Mississippi State

Missouri

Tickets

STARKVILLE, MS - January 28, 2023 - Mississippi State Forward Will McNair Jr (#13) during the game between the TCU Horned Frogs and the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, MS. Photo By Mike Mattina

Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics

Gameday: Five Things to Know MSU-Missouri

February 03, 2023 | Men's Basketball

WATCH: MSU vs. Missouri [SECN]LISTEN: Hail State On-Demand Buy Tickets Fan Gameday Central Live Stats Game Notes (PDF)

by Matt Dunaway, Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State men's basketball makes the turn into the SEC's second half and the February portion of its schedule as the Bulldogs square off with another NCAA NET Top 50 opponent in Missouri on Saturday at Humphrey Coliseum.

State (14-8, 2-7 SEC) will meet its seventh NCAA NET Top 50 foe of SEC action of the season, while the Tigers (17-5, 5-4 SEC) will play its fourth NCAA NET Quad 1 road game of the SEC slate.

The Bulldogs have won back-to-back contests, most recently a 66-51 road triumph over South Carolina to end a five-game SEC skid.

One of the staples of a Coach Jans team is all-out effort and a suffocating defense. Through 22 games, the Bulldogs are among the nation's best surrendering 59.0 points per game (2nd SEC • 8th nationally) on a 38.7 opponent field goal percentage (3rd SEC • 8th nationally).

Historically at State, the 59.4 points per game allowed is the program's third-lowest 22-game total in the modern era since the 1955-56 season, which was Babe McCarthy's first season with the Bulldogs. This year's team is only behind the 1981-82 and 1983-84 squads led by Bob Boyd through 22 games.

The Maroon and White has dialed up 211 steals on a 9.6 per game clip (2nd SEC • 9th nationally) through 22 games. Both marks are third in program history only behind the 2003-04 SEC championship squad and 1991-92 team.

According to KenPom, the Bulldogs are among the nation's top 20 in six additional categories which include steal percentage (14.5 – 3rd), adjusted defensive efficiency (91.3 – 10th), defensive turnover percentage (23.6 – 11th), offensive rebounding percentage (35.8 – 15th), two-point field goal percentage defense (44.7 – 18th) and effective defensive field goal percentage (45.5 – 19th).

State also possesses top 5 SEC marks with a +3.00 turnover margin (3rd), forced opponents into 15.55 turnovers per game (3rd), collected 13.32 offensive rebounds per game (3rd), compiled a 1.16 assist-to-turnover ratio (4th) and grabbed 38.09 rebounds per game (4th).

Missouri's high-octane offense is averaging 83.3 points, drained 9.4 three-pointers and distributed 17.4 assists per game. The Tigers have connected on 48.5 percent of their field goals, 35.8 percent of their triples and 75.9 percent of their free throws. All of the above marks are top 3 inside the SEC.

Defensively, Missouri holds the nation's top spot with 11.0 steals per game and a +6.59 turnover margin. The Tigers also have forced their opponents into a SEC-best 18.14 turnovers per contest.

Missouri's top two scorers are by Kobe Brown (16.5 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 2.7 APG, 1.4 SPG) and D'Moi Hodge (14.3 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 2.3 SPG, 1.8 APG).

Brown has ripped off 10 consecutive games in double figures fueled by five efforts of 20-plus points. He provided 31 points against No. 16 Illinois followed by 30 points against No. 19 Kentucky. Hodge has sunk 60 of his 110 shots from beyond the three-point line. His SEC season's best was 24 points at Ole Miss.

De'Andre Gholston (10.4 PPG. 2.4 RPG, 1.5 APG), Isiaih Mosley (10.0 PPG, 2.6 APG, 1.2 SPG) and Noah Carter (10.0 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 1.7 APG) give the Tigers five players in double figures. Gholston has done a majority of his damage off the bench with double figures in four of his last five, while Mosley has started the team's last three games sparked by a SEC season-high 20 points at Ole Miss.

SERIES HISTORY VS. MISSOURI
Mississippi State has won six straight since 2018-19 and 11 of the last 12 meetings in the series dating back to 2014-15. Overall, the Bulldogs have secured a 12-5 series advantage headed by winning seven of eight meetings in Starkville.

The Maroon and White will play a home-and-home series with the Tigers for the third time in the last four seasons. The return meeting will be 17 days later on Tuesday, February 21. The two teams played back-to-back contests over a three-day span last season.

The Matchup: Mississippi State (14-8, 2-7 SEC) vs. Missouri (17-5, 5-4 SEC)
Where: Starkville, Mississippi – Humphrey Coliseum
When: Saturday, February 4, 5:01 p.m. CT
Live Stats: StatBroadcast (https://hailst.at/MBKLiveStats)

TV: SEC Network
Talent: Paul Sunderland, Joe Kleine
Channel Lineup: Ch. 611 (DirecTV); Ch. 404/408 (Dish); Ch. 220 (C-Spire); Ch. 1026 (MaxxSouth)
Online: 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 On-Demand (https://hailst.at/MBKListen); The Varsity Network App

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT MISSISSIPPI STATE
1. Chris Jans, one of the nation's premier bench bosses, leads State's program. He is assisted by James Miller, David Anwar and George Brooks. His New Mexico State program which Miller and Anwar were apart of became the Western Athletic Conference's (WAC) standard bearer after racking up four regular season championships, three NCAA Tournament appearances and three WAC Tournament titles.

Jans, a three-time WAC Coach of the Year, owns an impressive .751 winning percentage (157-52) in his seventh season as a NCAA Division I head coach. The .751 clip is tied for fourth nationally with San Diego State's Brian Dutcher (.751) and only trailing Gonzaga's Mark Few (.836), Kansas' Bill Self (.769) and Kentucky's John Calipari (.761).

Jans is the only men's basketball coach at State to win his opening 11 games. The previous mark was held by E.C. Hayes, who completed the 1911-12 season at 9-0 and won the opening game of the 1912-13 campaign.

The 11-0 start for the Maroon and White was the program's fourth start with at least 11 straight wins and the program's best start since the 2003-04 SEC regular season championship campaign began with a 13-0 mark.

Chris Jans was one of three coaches in SEC history to start his first season with at least 11 consecutive victories (John Calipari, Kentucky, 2009-10; Floyd Burdette, Alabama, 1946-47).

As a junior college head coach, Jans won the 1997-98 NJCAA Division II National Championship at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He also played a vital role as an assistant coach at Wichita State which was headed by a 2013 NCAA Final Four run, five NCAA Tournament trips and four Missouri Valley Conference regular season crowns.

2. Tolu Smith (14.5 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 1.8 APG) captured All-SEC Preseason First-Team. The Bulldogs have had a player secure preseason first-team honors during four of the last five seasons. Smith is joined by Quinndary Weatherspoon (2018-19), Reggie Perry (2019-20) and Iverson Molinar (2021-22), who each garnered All-SEC Preseason First-Team selections by the conference coaches.

Smith has started 72 of his 73 career appearances in the Maroon and White where he has amassed 993 points, 571 rebounds and connected on 57.4 percent of his field goal attempts. The 57.4 shooting clip is sixth in program history among players who have made at least 300 field goals.

Smith and Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe are the only SEC players in 2022-23 to rank among the league's top 15 in points (14.45 – 11th) along with league's top 5 in rebounds (8.23 – 4th) and field goal percentage (57.8 – 3rd).

Smith has piled up 53 career outings in double figures, 19 double-doubles and registered 8 of his 14 outings of 20-plus points versus SEC competition. For his career, the Bay St. Louis native reached 1,000 career points versus Ole Miss. He began his career with 112 during his freshman season at Western Kentucky.

Smith enters the Missouri game 7 points shy of becoming the sixth MSU player since 2017-18 and the 42nd player overall at MSU to reach 1,000 points.

Smith dialed up a career-high tying 27 points on an 11-for-13 shooting clip and grabbed 13 rebounds versus No. 11 TCU. He has piled up seven career 20-10 outings, both against ranked opponents this season. Smith added 20 points and 10 rebounds at No. 21 Auburn. He has notched double-doubles in four of his last five appearances.

3. In addition to Smith, State's returning group is highlighted by D.J. Jeffries, Cameron Matthews and Shakeel Moore. The quartet combined to average 49.3 percent of the team's points, 48.4 percent of the team's rebounds, 43.9 percent of the team's assists, 52.9 percent of the team's steals and 46.9 percent of the team's blocks over 90 starts last season.

Jeffries (8.9 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 1.7 APG, 1.3 SPG) heads into the Missouri game 23 points shy of 1,000 for his career. He has provided double figures in 11 games, which is second on the team this season. The Olive Branch product has racked up 53 career games where Mississippi State and Memphis has garnered a 40-13 record.

Jeffries continues to showcase his versatility with 42 career games of 5+ rebounds, 24 outings with 2+ three-pointers made, 23 career outings with 3+ assists, 23 career games with multiple steals and 19 career outings with multiple blocks.

Jeffries tallied a season's best 15 points apiece during the Akron and Jackson State contests. He opened SEC action with his third career double-double fueled by a career-high 15 rebounds coupled with 11 points versus No. 8 Alabama.

Matthews (6.7 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 2.1 APG, 1.5 SPG) has already secured 8 of his top 13 career scoring performances in 2022-23. He collected a season's best 14 points against South Dakota and secured his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds versus No. 11 TCU.

Matthews is the only SEC player in 2022-23 to hit at least five blocks, five assists and five steals during a game. He racked up a career-best five blocks versus Texas A&M Corpus-Christi during the 2022-23 opening act. Then, Matthews notched career-highs of five assists and five blocks versus Jackson State.

Like Jeffries, his high school teammate from Olive Brach where the duo won a state championship in 2017-18, Matthews is a stat sheet stuffer. For his career, Matthews has piled up 15 of his 33 outings with 2+ assists, 12 of his 30 performances of 5+ rebounds and 11 of his 30 games with 2+ steals during the 2022-23 campaign.

Moore (8.9 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 2.3 APG, 2.2 SPG) has collected 19 of his 24 career games with 10-plus points in Maroon and White. Mississippi State and NC State are a combined 17-7 when Moore secures double figures.

Moore is one of three SEC players joining Kentucky's Tshiebwe and Tennessee's Zakai Zeigler and one of 15 players nationally on the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List.

Moore has tallied multiple steals in 41 of 79 career games and his 2.2 steals per contest are 5th on the SEC leaderboard this season. The North Carolina native's 1.6 SPG were 12th in the SEC (2021-22), while his 1.4 SPG were 9th in the ACC (2020-21).

Over his last five games, Moore has accounted for 14.0 points per game. He ripped off a career-high 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting at South Carolina followed by a 20-point performance versus No. 9 Tennessee.

4. The Bulldogs have four talented transfers making contributions which include Dashawn Davis (Oregon State), Will McNair Jr. (New Mexico State), Eric Reed Jr. (Southeast Missouri) and Tyler Stevenson (Southern Miss).

Davis was the Pac-12's leader in assists with 5.5 dimes per game and a 2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio in 2021-22 with Oregon State. The last Oregon State player to lead the Pac-12 was Gary Payton, a Naismith Hall of Famer and NBA 75th Anniversary Team member.

Davis (8.6 PPG, 3.3 APG, 1.9 RPG, 1.6 SPG) ranks among the SEC's top 10 in league contests with a 1.9 assist-to-turnover ratio (6th), 3.7 assists per game (7th) and 2.0 steals per game (Tied 4th). He secured a SEC season-high 14 points at No. 2 Alabama and has improved his averages to 10.6 points per game over his last six outings.

Earlier this season, Davis averaged 15.0 points per contest en route to Fort Myers Tip-Off All-Tournament Team honors. The New York native drained five of his career-high six treys against Utah during the second half.

For his career, Davis has turned in 21 games of 10+ points and 2 games of 20+ points to go along with 23 games of 5+ assists and 22 games of 2+ steals.

Reed Jr., a 2022 All-Ohio Valley First-Team and NABC All-District 18 Second-Team pick, has started 70 of his 79 career games between MSU and Southeast Missouri.

Reed Jr. (4.7 PPG, 2.3 RPG) came away with a season's best 15 points during the Marquette game, while his best SEC outing was 9 points and a career-high tying 8 rebounds against Ole Miss. He has drained multiple triples in 5 games in 2022-23 and in 42 career games.

Reed Jr. was the only OVC player in 2021-22 to rank among the league's top 10 in points (16.1 – 6th), free throw percentage (81.5 – 3rd) and three-point percentage (36.2 – 10th).

McNair Jr. improved his stat averages over his first three seasons under Coach Jans at New Mexico State. He has amassed 14 games of 10+ points coupled with 35 games of 5+ rebounds, 12 games of 2+ blocks and 10 games of 2+ assists over his career.

McNair Jr. (3.9 PPG, 3.6 RPG) has piled up his top 3 scoring efforts in Maroon and White all against SEC opponents: 13 points versus Ole Miss followed by 10 points against No. 8 Alabama in the SEC opener and 10 points versus Florida. The Philadelphia native is averaging 8.3 points per game over four SEC home appearances.

McNair Jr. has hauled down 7 rebounds versus Ole Miss, No. 8 Alabama and Arkansas – Pine Bluff. For the season, he's notched 9 efforts of 5+ points and 8 outings of 5+ rebounds in 2022-23.

Stevenson registered 74 starts over four seasons where he notched 2021-22 All-Conference USA Honorable Mention and was a Bailey Howell Trophy finalist at Southern Miss. He was one of three USM players to pile up over 1,200 career points and 600-plus rebounds during the 2000s.

Stevenson has made two starts in 2022-23, most recently at No. 8 Tennessee, where he racked up 14 of his season's best 15 points during the second half. He also has chipped in 12 points at South Carolina and 10 points against No. 11 TCU.

Stevenson has collected 6 outings of 5+ points and 3 efforts of 5+ rebounds in 2022-23. He hauled down a season-high seven rebounds versus Omaha.

5. Mississippi State freshmen class includes redshirt freshman KeShawn Murphy coupled with true freshmen Kimani Hamilton, Martavious Russell and Shawn Jones Jr.

Hamilton and Murphy are ESPN top 100 prospects for their respective classes. Hamilton's father, Tang (1998-99-2000-01), sits among MSU's top 20 in points (1,307 – 20th) and rebounds (677 – Tied for 16th).

Hamilton has notched 5+ points on four occasions in 2022-23, with a season's best 9 points at No. 8 Tennessee. His best all-around effort was 4 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists versus South Dakota.

Murphy came away with a career-high 11 points against No. 8 Alabama and a 10-point effort versus Drake. He has tallied 5+ points five times in addition to handed out 2+ assists on four occasions and made 2+ three-pointers in three games.

Jones Jr. has provided 5+ points on three occasions and has recorded a steal in seven of his 11 appearances. His season's bests are 6 points during the Mississippi Valley State and Arkansas - Pine Bluff contests. Jones Jr. missed seven consecutive games due to injury before he returned at Georgia.

Russell collected season-highs of 7 points and 2 steals against Arkansas - Pine Bluff. His one-handed flush inside the contest's final minute earned the No. 5 spot on SportsCenter's Top 10.

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.