Mississippi

Mitchell has career day, but Arkansas falls at Mississippi State

Published

11 months ago

February 17, 2024

Mitchell has career day, but Arkansas falls at Mississippi State

Makhi Mitchell scored a career-high 21 points and made several big plays in the second half, but Josh Hubbard sank a 3-pointer with 58 seconds left to put Mississippi State up one, 68-67, and the Bulldogs made three free throws inside the final 10 seconds to win, 71-67, Saturday afternoon.

Hubbard finished with 19 points and Cameron Matthews had 17, going 6-of-7 from the field, with 10 rebounds. Matthews helped the Bulldogs outrebound Arkansas, 42-27 including 17 offensive boards. Matthews was also 5-of-10 at the free throw line as State was 19-of-32 at the line compared to Arkansas being 14-of-19.

Mitchell scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half with six rebounds, a steal and two blocked shots. Overall, Mitchell was 8-of-12 from the field and 5-of-5 at the line.

His first big play of the second half came with 12:28 left when he converted an old-fashioned 3-point play to tie the game at 46. He then blocked a shot and made a layup to put the Hogs up two, 48-46. Later, with the score tied at 48, recorded a steal, but the Razorbacks could not capitalize. With 3:42 left in the game, Mitchell made two free throws to knot the game at 59 and had a dunk to square the game at 61. Two possessions later with 2:12 left, he grabbed an offensive rebound and made the putback to a 63-61 Arkansas lead.

The lead bounced back and forth over the next minute with Arkansas taking its last lead, 65-63, on an El Ellis jumper in the paint prior to Hubbard’s 3-pointer to set up the Bulldogs’ final run.

Mississippi State led 34-29 at the break. The Bulldogs out-rebounded the Razorbacks 23-11 in the period and were 7-of-12 at the line, compared to 3-of-4 by the Hogs.

Khalif Battle scored 18 points and Ellis had four assists.

The Razorbacks stay on the road to play at Texas A&M on Tuesday (Feb. 20) at 6 pm (CT).

NOTES

•Arkansas starters were El Ellis, Khalif Battle, Davonte Davis, Tramon Mark, Jalen Graham and Chandler Lawson.

• Arkansas controlled the opening tip.

• Khalif Battle knifed in to grab the opening tip and scored the first points of the game with a layup at 19:55.

• Keyon Menifield Jr., was the first Razorback sub.

For more information on Arkansas Men’s Basketball, follow @RazorbackMBB on Twitter.

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Mississippi

Kentucky vs. Mississippi State viewing info, what to watch for, and predictions

Published

2 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

Kentucky vs. Mississippi State viewing info, what to watch for, and predictions

Coming off a disappointing loss to Georgia, the Kentucky Wildcats will hit the road again on Saturday, this time against the 14th-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Led by third-year head coach Chris Jans, the Bulldogs currently hold their highest ranking since the 2018-19 season. It’s not been due to a poor schedule either, as the Bulldogs have the eighth-strongest strength of record according to ESPN, including four Quad I wins.

Ranked top 25 in KenPom offensive and defensive efficiency, Mississippi State is just one of 11 teams that fit that criteria. That said, Kentucky is 2-0 against such teams as Duke and Florida.

Let’s take a look at the matchup.

Rebounding Battle

Kentucky’s biggest issue of late has been rebounding, which Mark Pope called a “major issue” after the loss to Georgia. The Wildcats have been outrebounded in four straight games, including Brown, and have given up double-digit offensive rebounds in back-to-back games to start SEC play.

The rebounding battle is not going to be any easier against Mississippi State, who ranks 30th in rebounds per game (39.3) and grabs 34.4% of their own misses.

On paper, Kentucky has more size, and it will be important for ALL five players to box out. As they teach in youth basketball, Hit-Turn-Drive-Purse.

Take Care of the Ball

Kentucky has been one of the top ten teams in the country in taking care of the ball, but they coughed it up 13 times to Georgia, their second-highest mark of the season.

On the other side, Mississippi State is really good at forcing turnovers. Per game, the Bulldogs turn their opponent over nearly 15 times. About ten of those come from steals, where they rank in the top 10 nationally.

Kentucky has scored more than 1 point per possession this season, so think of it as leaving points on the board. They need to commit nine or fewer turnovers.

Physicality

The officiating has not been great in Kentucky’s first two SEC contests. However, that’s just part of the game. As Mark Pope says, only focus on what you can control.

One thing they can focus on and control is their level of physicality. Kentucky responded to the physicality of Florida but never matched it against Georgia, and that is a big reason why they lost.

Again, Kentucky has the size, but they have to show the mentality. In the SEC you have to be the most physical team or meet the level every night out.

Opposing Players to Watch

G Josh Hubbard 5-11, 190 lbs

17.1 PPG (T-9th in SEC)
3.3 APG
38.2% 3P

F Keshawn Murphy 6-10, 230 lbs

9.9 PPG
7.7 RPG (9th in SEC)
1.3 BPG

F Cameron Matthews 6-7, 235 lbs

6.9 RPG
4.1 APG (8th in SEC)
2.5 SPG (1st in SEC)

Time: 8:30 PM ET

Date: January 11th, 2024

Location: Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Mississippi

TV Channel: SEC Network

Announcers: Dave Neal and Jon Sundvold will call the action.

Online Stream: You can stream the game online using ESPN+ and the ESPN app.

Radio: Tom Leach and Jack Givens will have the call on the UK Sports Radio Network.

Replay: WatchESPN and SEC Network (check local listings).

Rosters: UK | MISS ST

Stats to Know: UK | MISS ST

KenPom: UK | MISS ST

Team Sheet: UK | MISS ST

Odds: FanDuel Sportsbook has yet to release the odds for the game, so please check back later for those, but assume Kentucky will be an underdog. ESPN is the most confident in Kentucky’s chances to win…at just 36.8%. EvanMiya is the most pessimistic, giving the Cats just a 28.1% chance of victory. Bart Torvik (33%) and KenPom (31%) fall in between.

Predictions: The analytics have Kentucky losing by 5+ points in Stakrville. Haslametrics has Kentucky losing 86-79. EvanMiya has the Cats losing 82-76. Bart Torvik (85-80) and KenPom (84-79) are going with a five-point loss. I think Kentucky struggles again with another physical team that is more talented than Georgia or Ohio State. I believe Kentucky will drop a second straight, 78-72.

How do you see this one going? Send us your Kentucky vs. Mississippi State score predictions in the comments section!

Go Cats!!

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Mississippi

Meridian lands $10 billion Compass Datacenters project, Gov. Tate announces

Published

10 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

Meridian lands billion Compass Datacenters project, Gov. Tate announces

Dallas-based Compass Datacenters, a multinational data center developer, is locating its next hyperscale data center campus in Meridian, according to Gov. Tate Reeves, who announced the project at the Mississippi Economic Council’s Capital Day Thursday.

The campus will consist of eight data centers that will be constructed over an eight-year period.Upon occupancy, Compass Datacenters’ campus will represent an investment of $10 billion, including future tenants’ information technology equipment. The campus also will create thousands of direct and indirect jobs. Compass Datacenters builds single-tenant, hyperscale data center campuses. The large-scale campuses built by Compass are designed to last for more than 100 years and create economies of scale to support local businesses and jobs.

Mississippi Development Authority is providing assistance for site preparation. MDA also will certify Compass Datacenters as a data center operator, which will provide the company with 10-year state income and franchise tax exemptions, as well as a sales and use tax exemption on construction materials, equipment and software and hardware replacements.

The city of Meridian, Lauderdale County, and electrical utility provider Mississippi Power Company also are assisting with the project. Mississippi Power will supply approximately 500 megawatts of power to the facility.

Ross Reily is a writer for the Clarion Ledger, part of the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at rreily@gannett.com or 601-573-2952. You can follow him on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter @GreenOkra1.

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Mississippi

No. 23 Mississippi knocks off Arkansas 73-66 for first win in Fayetteville since 2015

Published

18 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

No. 23 Mississippi knocks off Arkansas 73-66 for first win in Fayetteville since 2015

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Malik Dia scored 21 points to lead No. 23 Mississippi to a 73-66 win over Arkansas on Wednesday night, the Rebels’ first win in Fayetteville since 2015.

Sean Pedulla scored 16 and Dre Davis 10. Pedulla and Dia made back-to-back buckets with less than nine minutes left to build Ole Miss’ lead to double digits after Arkansas (11-4, 0-2 Southeastern Conference) had cut it to six.

Adou Thiero led the Razorbacks with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting. The rest of the Arkansas team shot just 32%.

Dia, Pedulla and Davis scored 14 straight points for the Rebels (13-2, 2-0) over a five-minute stretch midway through the second, outscoring the Hogs over that span by four to keep the lead at double digits.

The Razorbacks, who fell out of the Top 25 last week after a loss at Tennessee, have started 0-2 in league play for the second straight season.

Takeaways

Arkansas’ NCAA Tournament hole may be large by the end of the week as ninth-ranked Florida visits Bud Walton Arena on Saturday.

The Rebels are 2-0 in the SEC for the first time since 2019, which is also the last time the Rebels made the NCAA Tournament. They look the part of returning in 2025.

Key moment

Ole Miss’ 17-7 run over the first 5:37 of the second half was precisely what the Rebels needed to get out of Arkansas with a win.

Key stat

Shooting doomed the Razorbacks. Arkansas shot just 22% from 3-point range to Ole Miss’ 39% and the Razorbacks’ leading scorer on the season, Boogie Fland, went just 5 of 20 from the floor for 14 points.

Up next

Ole Miss hosts LSU on Saturday.

Arkansas hosts No. 8 Florida on Saturday.

___

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