Bulldogs return home to battle Iowa State in SEC/Big 12 Challenge

MSU is looking to snap a three-game losing streak

Mississippi State seems to be in need of some home cooking. The Bulldogs will look to benefit from that on Saturday as they return to the Humphrey Coliseum trying to snap a three-game losing streak.

MSU plays host to Iowa State in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. On paper, it seems like a perfect opportunity for the Bulldogs to break back into the win column. The Cyclones are just 2-8 this season and have lost four games in a row. MSU head coach Ben Howland says the Iowa State record can be deceiving though.

“They’re scary on film," Howland said about the Cyclones. "When you watch them against West Virginia, they should have beat West Virginia. They had West Virginia on the road, with an unbelievable opportunity to win, which is hard to do. I know that personally (from my time coaching at Pittsburgh). They played Baylor incredibly tough at home. Those teams are (projected) one seed and two seeds (in the NCAA Tournament). They’re very talented.”

Iowa State is led by junior guard Rasir Bolton. He averages 15.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.9 steals per game. Other threats include guard Jalen Coleman-Lands and forward Javon Johnson. Coleman-Lands averages 12.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. Johnson averages 12.2 points and 4.1 boards per outing.

So can MSU defend its home floor against the Cyclones? Here's a quick look at how you can follow along with Saturday's game, along with some selected comments from MSU head coach Ben Howland. You can also watch full video of Howland's pre-Iowa State media session above.

• What: Iowa State (2-8) at Mississippi State (9-8)
• Where: Humphrey Coliseum – Starkville, Mississippi
• When: 5 p.m. central on Saturday, January 30, 2021
• TV/Video: ESPN2, Online via ESPN.com/ESPN App
• Radio/Audio: Mississippi State Sports Radio Network (click here for full list of affiliates), online at Hailstate.com and the TuneIn radio app

Howland on Iowa State: “They’re scary on film. When you watch them against West Virginia, they should have beat West Virginia. They had West Virginia on the road, with an unbelievable opportunity to win, which is hard to do. I know that personally [from my time at Pittsburgh]. They played Baylor incredibly tough at home. Those teams are [projected] one seed and two seeds [in the NCAA Tournament]. They’re very talented.”

“Their starting point guard, [Rasir Bolton], is a really good player. He’s out of Virginia originally. He’s really skilled – he’s an excellent passer, excellent scorer, shoots it strong and is tough. He’s a very good player. They have another guard, [Jalen] Coleman-Lands, who is a fifth-year senior. He transferred in from Penn State originally, a really good player. He’s shooting almost 40 percent from three. They have another perimeter player who plays the four spot [power forward position] at times for them, Javan Johnson, from Alabama, who started out at Troy. He sat out for a year [after transferring] and is really playing well for them. He’s had some big games.”

“They’ve had a tough schedule when you look at who they’ve been playing – Texas at Texas, Texas Tech, Baylor, West Virginia – all highly ranked teams. I’m really impressed with their personnel. Solomon Young, their starting center who has been starting there for the past few years, is a really good big. He can score in a lot of ways – around the basket, left shoulder, right shoulder, shoots it, faces up and is a very good offensive rebounder. They’ve got talent.”

Howland on Quinten Post's performance at Tennessee last game: “I thought he played really hard. He was quick to the ball, and he did a good job rebounding. He had five points. I thought he played extremely hard and was very quick to the ball. He had seven rebounds yesterday in practice, which tied for the most on our team. It’s a positive step forward.”

Howland on turnovers being MSU's biggest issue right now: “Yeah. In fact, yesterday in practice – after every single turnover, we stopped practice and did either pushups or sprints. That’s where we are. Any time we turn it over, we’re stopping practice now. We’re going to be accountable for it right then and there. Hopefully, that’s going to help us.”

Howland on MSU's defense lately: “We’ve done a good job defensively as a whole in both of those games [the Alabama and Tennessee games]. Our transition defense has been good. We out-rebounded Tennessee by 12, who is a really good rebounding team. We have done a good job with our help defense. I think Tennessee shot a little below 40 percent [from the field] in that game. It was really low. Our defense was excellent against them, and it was good against Alabama, even though Alabama made a fair amount of its three’s. That was the difference in that game, but our defense has been good.”

“I’ve been very pleased with our defense. You always make mistakes in the game of basketball. Whether it’s on offense or defense, a team that makes the least amount of mistakes usually wins. We definitely made mistakes defensively in both games. But when you look at the numbers, the numbers are pretty good. We forced turnovers. We forced turnovers in both games against both teams. We just have too many on our end.”

Howland on Cameron Matthews being in the starting lineup the last two games: “He makes us a much better defensive team when he’s in the game. His ability to defend and really compete is good. He’s not as good of a shooter as Jalen Johnson, so the trade-off is offense for defense. The fact that we played really good defense in both of those games [the Tennessee and Alabama games] gave us a chance to win both of those games.”

“Cameron is working hard. He’s in the gym right now [before practice] working on shooting. We have bunch of guys in there today getting shots up. I’m really excited about his development. Jalen came in today and got shots up too. I’m not going away from Jalen. I have to get him some more minutes. I’m pleased with what he [Matthews] brings us in terms of energy, toughness, and overall defense. Cameron is doing a very good job.”

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