Iverson Molinar's return expected to boost Bulldogs as Mississippi State gets set to host North Texas
Mississippi State head coach Ben Howland feels certain that by the time the 2020-21 season ends, point guard Iverson Molinar will be one of MSU's top three scorers. Problem is, through three games this season, Molinar hasn't been on the floor for the Bulldogs.
That all changes come Friday night as MSU hosts North Texas at 7 p.m. central inside Humphrey Coliseum. Molinar is back after a symptom-free bout with COVID-19 and his return might be just the offensive boost the Bulldogs need to round into form.
"I think he's made one of the biggest jumps in improvement of a player from freshman to sophomore year than anyone I've seen in about 10 or 12 years," Howland said of Molinar. "I think he's really going to be good for us this year and he's going to have a great year. We obviously missed him tremendously those first three games."
No one will ever know for sure how things might be different for MSU right now if Molinar had been available for State's games against Clemson, Liberty and Texas State. The Bulldogs went just 1-2 over that stretch and averaged only 61 points per game.
Most of the offense State has gotten has come from guard D.J. Stewart and forward Tolu Smith. Stewart has averaged 18.3 points per game in the early going. Smith sits at 14.7 per outing. Add Molinar to the MSU mix and it seems likely that not only will the Bulldogs have another consistent scorer to rely on, they'll have someone that can take some of the pressure off of Stewart, Smith and others. Stewart, specifically, might stand to benefit the most.
Stewart has been playing some at the one with Molinar out. Now, he'll be able to play from his more comfortable spot at the two.
"It'll alleviate some of the pressure on (Stewart) and he won't have to do so much," Howland said after Monday's win over Texas State. "Now he won't have to play many minutes at the point."
Howland noted on Thursday that he expects Molinar to be able to play somewhere between 25 or 30 minutes on Friday. He has slowly been easing back into playing. Molinar was able to participate for half of practice on Wednesday and is scheduled to get in work for three-fourths of practice Thursday.
Howland noted Molinar certainly was starting to look ready when he was on the floor for Wednesday's workout.
"For a guy that hadn't done anything in 10 days, it was kind of amazing," Howland said. "That's the kind of athlete he is."
On Friday, Molinar will finally get to play basketball that counts. After playing a little more than 15 minutes per game and averaging 5.9 points per affair last year as a true freshman, Molinar's sophomore season will start against the defending Conference USA champions.
North Texas is 1-1 this season and the Mean Green feature last season's Conference USA Player of the Year, point guard Javion Hamlet. He's started this season off with a 2.5 assist-to-turnover ratio. He's averaging nine points per game for a team that features many of the same faces as last year's highly successful Mean Green group.
"They're going to be a very hard team for us," Howland said of North Texas. "They're very patient offensively. It's a grind-it-out affair.
"They play very good defense (and are) really good half-court, man-to-man. They'll switch ball screens one through five. They'll try to ice the side ball screens. They're physical. They're strong. They're quick. We've got our hands full. It's a very difficult opponent."
Finally though, with Molinar's return, it's an opponent the Bulldogs can face at full strength.
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