Mississippi State men’s basketball looks to end 3-game skid at No. 25 Alabama

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The Mississippi State men’s basketball team will head to Alabama to take on the No 25 Crimson Tide on Wednesday at 6 p.m. CT inside Coleman Coliseum on ESPN2.

The Bulldogs (14-10, 5-6 SEC) have dropped six of their last eight games since defeating Alabama 78-76 on Jan. 15. Last time out, MSU erased a 15-point halftime deficit against LSU before falling 69-65 on Saturday.

The Bulldogs were led by junior guard Iverson Molinar with a game-high 26 points, while redshirt junior forward Tolu Smith had 15 points and seven rebounds and graduate forward Garrison Brooks finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. MSU turned the ball over 18 times in the game.

MSU is paced by Molinar with 18.4 points per game, which ranks third in the Southeastern Conference. Smith is second on the team with 12.6 points a game in 11 games played, while Brooks is putting up 11.5 points and a team-high 6.9 rebounds.

The Crimson Tide (16-9, 6-6 SEC) is 11-2 at home, including Saturday’s 68-67 win over Arkansas, which snapped the Razorbacks’ nine-game winning streak.

Alabama is led by three players who average double figures in junior guard Jaden Shackelford (17.3), junior guard Jahvon Quinerly (13.9) and senior guard Keon Ellis (11.6). The trio combines to account for 54% the Crimson Tide’s 80.4 points per game. The 80.4 points offensive output ranks second in the SEC.

Wednesday’s game will mark the 208th meeting between the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide on the hardwood. Alabama leads the all-time series 129-78 and has won 15 of the last 20 games. The Bulldogs will be looking for their first two-game regular-season sweep of Alabama since 2007-08.