Mississippi State men’s basketball ready for matchup against Furman

STARKVILLE, Miss. — The Mississippi State men’s basketball team will battle it out against the Furman Paladins on Friday at 6 p.m. CT inside Humphrey Coliseum on SEC Network.

The Bulldogs (7-3) are coming off a dominating 79-50 win over Georgia State on Tuesday. Junior guard Iverson Molinar led the way with 18 points and four assists. Junior forward D.J. Jeffries added 15 points, while sophomore forward Derek Fountain scored 10 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.

Molinar leads MSU with 16.7 points and 4.8 assists. He is one of three Southeastern Conference players to score in double figures in every game this season. Graduate forward Garrison Brooks is putting up 10.7 points and seven rebounds per game, while sophomore guard Shakeel Moore is averaging 10.6 points.

Paladins (7-4) are coming off a 74-61 road loss to North Carolina on Tuesday.

Furman is led by three double-digit scorers. Senior guard Alex Hunter paces the squad with 17.9 points and 3.8 assists, while senior forward Jalen Slawson is putting up 16.4 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. Senior guard Mike Bothwell is third on the team in scoring and has put up 15.7 points per game.

Friday’s game will mark the fifth meeting between the Bulldogs and Paladins on the hardwood. MSU has won all four previous meetings, most recently an 84-74 victory on Dec. 28, 1970.