Mississippi State men’s basketball set to face Lamar

STARKVILLE, Miss. — The Mississippi State basketball team is set to host the Lamar Cardinals on Thursday at 7 p.m. CT inside Humphrey Coliseum. The game will be airing on SEC Network+.

The Bulldogs (5-1) are coming off a split at the Baha Mar Bahamas Championship over the weekend. MSU fell 72-58 to Louisville on Thanksgiving before bouncing back with an 82-71 overtime win over Richmond in the third-place game on Saturday.

Redshirt junior forward Tolu Smith scored 22 points and added 11 rebounds, marking his third career 20-10 performance. He was an all-tournament pick for his two-game performance. Junior guard Iverson Molinar scored 15 points and dished out seven assists, while junior forward D.J. Jeffries and graduate forward Garrison Brooks added 13 and 11 points, respectively.

On the year, Molinar has led the Bulldogs with 15.8 points, five assists and four rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Shakeel Moore is putting up 12 points per game, while Brooks has averaged 10.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game and Jeffries has put up 10.3 points.

The MSU defense has held opponents to 58.5 points per game, which is good for 30th in the nation.

The Cardinals (1-6) are coming off an 89-57 loss at Texas Tech on Saturday. Lamar beat Wiley College to open the season but have lost six straight games since then.

Senior guard Davion Buster leads the team with 12.9 points per game. Junior guard Jordyn Adams is averaging 12.8 points per game, while senior guard C.J. Roberts and sophomore guard Kasen Harrison have added 12.1 and 10 points per game, respectively.

Thursday’s meeting will be the first for MSU and Lamar on the hardwood.