Mississippi
Michigan State basketball vs Miss. State in March Madness: Prediction for 2024 NCAA opener
Michigan State men’s basketball vs. Mississippi State
Breaking down Friday’s West Region first-round game between No. 9 Michigan State and No. 8 Mississippi State:
Records: No. 9 Michigan State (19-14, 10-10 Big Ten); No. 8 Mississippi State (21-13, 8-10 Southeastern Conference).
Fast facts: 12:15 p.m. Thursday; Spectrum Center, Charlotte, North Carolina.
TV: CBS.
TUNE IN: Watch NCAA tournament games on TNT, TBS and truTV
At stake: Winner faces winner of 1-seed North Carolina vs. 16-seed Howard or 16-seed Wagner on Saturday for spot in Sweet 16 in Los Angeles.
THE LINE: Michigan State basketball opens as slight gambling favorite over Mississippi State
PRINT YOUR BRACKET: March Madness schedule, how to watch the NCAA tournament
About MSU
Location: East Lansing.
Coach: Tom Izzo (29 seasons at MSU, 706-294 career).
School tournament record: 72-35 in 36 appearances.
Past 10 games: 5-5.
Scoring leaders: Tyson Walker, 18.2 points per game; Malik Hall, 12.6; A.J. Hoggard, 11.
Rebounding leaders: Hall, 5.6 rebounds per game; Mady Sissoko, 5.1; Carson Cooper, 4.6.
Assist leaders: Hoggard, 5.2 assists per game; Walker, 2.9; Tre Holloman, 2.5.
3-point leaders: Holloman, 41.8%; Walker, 37.3%; Akins, 36%.
The buzz: After losing to Kansas State in overtime of last year’s Sweet 16, MSU entered this season as a top-five pick and embraced national championship ambitions. Instead, it immediately suffered through an inconsistent, wild winter. The Spartans dropped their season-opener at home to James Madison, then lost their Big Ten opener at home to Wisconsin. Sophomore center Jaxon Kohler missed the first 14 games after October foot surgery, and freshman point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. was lost for the season after he was shot and suffered non-life threatening injuries Dec. 23. MSU was 9-7 overall and 1-4 in conference play after losing Jan. 11 at Illinois, then won eight of its next 10 games, including beating the top-10 Illini at Breslin Center on Feb. 14. But the Spartans then lost back-to-back home games to Iowa and Ohio State and closed the regular season losing four of five, then split two games at the Big Ten tournament. Walker’s scoring numbers have plummeted — since averaging 20 points per game over his first 17 games this season, the senior is averaging just 16.1 points and shooting 39.4% in the past 15 games. And junior Jaden Akins, since making 7 of 10 3-pointers against Michigan on Jan. 30, is shooting just 30.5% from deep in his past 12 games.
GOING TO CHARLOTTE? MSU basketball tickets in 2024 NCAA tournament: Prices, how to buy
About Mississippi State
Location: Starkville, Mississippi
Coach: Chris Jans (42-26 in two seasons at Mississippi State, 185-70 in eight seasons overall).
School tournament record: 11-12 in 12 appearances.
Past 10 games: 5-5.
Scoring leaders: Josh Hubbard, 17.1 points per game; Tolu Smith III, 15.2; Cameron Matthews, 9.5.
Rebounding leaders: Smith, 8.4 rebounds per game; Matthews, 6.9; D.J. Jeffries, 5.7.
Assist leaders: Matthews, 2.9 assists per game; Dashawn Davis, 2.6; Shakeel Moore, 1.8.
3-point leaders: Hubbard, 38.7%; Trey Fort, 34.9%; Moore, 34.8%.
The buzz: Much like the Spartans, the other MSU has battled inconsistent play throughout the season. The Bulldogs defeated No. 6 Tennessee, 73-56, in Friday’s SEC tournament quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion Auburn in Saturday’s semifinals, 73-66. Mississippi State also defeated the Vols, a No. 2 seed in the NCAAs, in January while also earning regular-season wins against the Big Ten’s Northwestern and Rutgers and NCAA qualifier Washington State. The Bulldogs had two non-SEC losses, against Georgia Tech and Southern, along with a 2-11 mark against the other seven NCAA qualifiers in their conference. With the Spartans already struggling to shoot beyond the arc, they run into one of the nation’s best at defending it from deep. The Bulldogs are seventh in Division I in allowing opponents to make just 29.4% of their 3-point attempts and are 52nd at 41.6% field-goal percentage defense. They also are one of the better offensive rebounding squads at 12.44 per game, which ranks 39th nationally, and 28th in rebounding margin at plus-5.9. Mississippi State scores 74.8 points a contest while giving up 69.1 to opponents. Hubbard, a 5-foot-10 freshman guard, is averaging 25.4 points a game over his past eight.
Prediction
In the battle of MSU’s, it is the Spartans’ veterans who harness lessons learned all winter and make the clutch plays down the stretch to advance to a showdown with 1-seed North Carolina. The pick: Michigan State 69, Mississippi State 65.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
Subscribe to the “Spartan Speak” podcast for new episodes weekly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.
Mississippi
Mississippi lawmakers face pressure to counter looming federal cuts to health care after punting this session
Wicker: Mississippi powered Artemis II
Published 4:00 pm Monday, April 20, 2026
For nine days this month, space travel captivated the world. Families gathered around their screens as four astronauts strapped into the Integrity spacecraft docked at the Kennedy Space Center. As the launch countdown ended, four Mississippi-tested RS-45 engines ignited, and the ground shook. Seven seconds later, the Integrity had liftoff. For six intense minutes, the RS-45 engines rocketed the crew into high Earth orbit, sending them on their historic lunar flyby mission.
Mississippi should take a bow. The four RS-45 engines were tested at our very own Stennis Space Center, where Mississippians have been ensuring the quality of rocket engines since the Apollo program. For eight years, engineers, safety managers, and logistics specialists from the state have tested the engines that powered the Integrity and will power future Artemis launches. Their work paid off, and the launch was a marvel of engineering. NASA leadership made special mention of the rocket engine burn, calling it “flawless.”
One Mississippian in particular helped make the mission a success. Hernando native Matthew Ramsey handled a great deal of responsibility as the mission manager for Artemis II. The Mississippi State University graduate helped set the focus for the mission and equip the astronauts and staff for the job. Matthew also served as the deputy of the Mission Management Team, the group of NASA staff that comes together just days before a launch. The team assumes the risks of the mission ahead, and they make tough calls during flight if challenges arise.
As the Artemis II journey progressed, the world could not stop watching. Our social media feeds were full of photos and videos beamed down from the heavens. They captured humorous situations, such as the astronauts adjusting to life without gravity or testing their plumbing skills.
We also witnessed moments of majesty. On the fifth day, the Integrity began using the Moon’s gravity to slingshot our astronauts back home. That trajectory led the crew around the Moon, farther from Earth than any humans have ever gone. As the explorers looked upon outer space, they captured stunning images. Among the most remarkable is Earthset, in which Commander Reid Wiseman photographed Earth as it appeared to fall below the horizon of the moon.
When their spacecraft returned to Earth’s atmosphere, the crew was traveling nearly 35 times faster than the speed of sound. Ten minutes later, a series of parachutes began opening. Eventually, the spacecraft’s speed fell to 20 miles per hour, and the crew splashed down into the Pacific Ocean.
Mississippi was once again there to assist. The astronauts were greeted by the USS John P. Murtha, a U.S. military vessel built in the Huntington Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula. The ship’s amphibious design was suited to welcome the space travelers home—equipped with a helicopter pad, medical facilities, and the communications system needed to locate and recover the astronauts safely. Crucially, the USS Murtha was built with a well deck, a sea-based garage that stored the Integrity on the journey to shore.
Artemis II was a resounding success, paving the way for planned future flights. When the Artemis program returns humans to the moon, Mississippi will be there every step of the way.
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