Mississippi State Basketball: Molinar Sparks Bulldogs in Win over UNT Mean Green

Mississippi State Basketball: Molinar Sparks Bulldogs in Win over UNT Mean Green

The Mississippi State Basketball team held on to defeat a tough and scrappy University of North Texas team Friday night at Humphrey Coliseum 69-63. The Bulldogs even their record at  (2-2) and earned Ben Howland his 100th win as the Mississippi State Basketball head coach.

The Bulldogs lead 29-20 at the half, but North Texas would not go down easily. This was a total team win as the Bulldogs were glad to have Iverson Molinar back in the lineup.

Iverson Molinar Returns

As Mississippi State Basketball started the season, one name was missing from the box score. Sophomore Iverson Molinar was out with an illness.

He was cleared to play and was immediately inserted into the starting lineup. Molinar immediately attempted to make up for the lost time and made his presence felt early.

Abdul Ado scored the first two points of the game. Molinar scored the next five to put Mississippi State up seven to zero. The Bulldogs would keep the lead for the entire game. Molinar was the leading scorer in the first half with nine points.

Molinar was aggressive driving the lane and showed little rust in his first game of the season. Jalen Johnson contributed eight points in the first half, with six of those points came off 6-6 shooting at the free-throw line as he was fouled attempting to shoot a three twice.

D.J. Stewart Jr. Heats up in the Second Half

While Iverson Molinar was the offensive star in the first half, D.J. Stewart made his contribution defensively. He made life miserable for All-Conference-USA pick Hamlet. Stewart held Hamlet to two points.

In the second half, Stewart heated up. Stewart scored 14 points to finish with 16 as he led the Bulldogs to score for the third straight game. Molinar finished with 15 points, Tulu Smith scored 12, and Jalen Johnson added another bucket to get into double figures with 10.

The Bulldogs Withstand 3 Point Barrage in Second Half Comeback Attempt

The Bulldogs’ defense was suffocating in the first half as North Texas was 1-12 from behind the arc. The second half was a different story as the Mean Green made 50% of their threes as they cut into the Bulldog lead. The hot shooting allowed the Mean Green to outscore Mississippi State in the second half, 43-40.

Mississippi State outrebounded their fourth straight opponent as Mississippi held the edge in that stat 38-34. Mississippi State also dominated in the Mean Green in the paint scoring 44 points to only 22 for North Texas.

Free-throw shooting is still a point of concern for me and the team shot 72.7% from the line. I would like to see that percentage at 80% or higher.

Although we didn’t win by double figures as I predicted, we won the game, and that is what counts. The Bulldogs are now 100% healthy and will take on SWAC foe Jackson State University on December 8th.