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STARKVILLE, Miss. — The Mississippi State men’s basketball team will look to snap a two-game losing streak in Southeastern Conference home openers when it hosts the Kentucky Wildcats at Humphrey Coliseum on Saturday. Game time is set for 5 p.m. CT and will air on SEC Network.
Mississippi State (6-3, 1-0 SEC) has won three games in a row and is coming off an 83-73 win over Georgia in its SEC opener. The Bulldogs enter Saturday’s game with the SEC’s longest active home winning streak at 13 games dating back to last season.
In Wednesday’s game at Georgia, sophomore guard Iverson Molinar led all scorers with 24 points on 8 of 14 shooting, including four 3-pointers. The Bulldogs have won five of their six games with Molinar in the lineup.
Redshirt sophomore guard D.J. Stewart Jr. added 18 points and seven rebounds, while freshman guard Deivon Smith and redshirt senior forward Jalen Johnson scored 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Molinar leads the Bulldogs with 18.7 points per game, while Stewart is second with 18.2. Redshirt sophomore forward Tolu Smith is averaging 13.1 points and a team-high 8.6 rebounds.
Kentucky (1-6, 0-0 SEC) last played a week ago at Louisville. The Wildcats dropped that contest 62-59 and are coming in on a six-game losing skid, which is the program’s longest losing streak since the 1988-89 season. Saturday’s contest will mark the 1,000th career game coached for Kentucky head coach John Calipari.
The Wildcats are the defending SEC champions and boast a league-best 1,012-284 record in regular-season conference play.
Kentucky has a trio of double-digit scorers in freshmen guards Brandon Boston Jr. and Terrence Clarke and graduate student guard Davion Mintz. Boston, a preseason first-team all-SEC pick, is leading the Wildcats with 14.0 points per game. Clarke and Mintz are averaging 10.7 and 10.3 points.
Saturday’s matchup is the 119th meeting between the two programs on the hardwood. The Wildcats hold a 98-20 series advantage over the Bulldogs and are 14-0 against Mississippi State with Calipari at the helm.