Mississippi State men's hoops to battle Clemson
Another piece of Mississippi State men's basketball's non-conference schedule was announced on Wednesday as the Bulldogs will face Clemson in their first game of the upcoming Cancun Challenge. Here is the full release, courtesy of MSU media relations:
The Mississippi State men’s basketball program will take on Clemson for the second time in three seasons to open the Cancun Challenge announced Wednesday by tournament organizers.
Tip time is set for approximately 7:30 p.m. CT televised by CBS Sports Network on Tuesday, November 24. The Bulldogs are scheduled to face either Purdue or Illinois State the following day. The two-day event has been moved from Cancun, Mexico to Eastern Florida State College located in Melbourne, Florida.
Mississippi State and Clemson have met four times on the hardwood with the Bulldogs taking the last matchup, 82-71, on December 8, 2018 as part of the Never Forget Tribute Classic in Newark, New Jersey. The Bulldogs knocked down a program single-game mark 19 three-pointers, and Lamar Peters led the way with a career-best 28 points.
Clemson has posted 20-plus wins during two of the last three seasons highlighted by a trip to the 2018 NCAA Sweet 16 under Brad Brownell. The Tigers are slated to return four of their top five scorers from a season ago headed by Aamir Sims who averaged 13.0 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. Clemson also has inked ESPN top 50 recruit P.J. Hall out of Roebuck, South Carolina.
Mississippi State won 11 of its last 15 SEC games to earn a top 4 finish in the conference standings, the program’s highest overall regular season finish since 2010-11. The Bulldogs have tucked away three consecutive 20-plus win seasons under Howland. The last time the program accomplished that feat was the 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons. The 68 victories also are the fourth-highest total in program history for a three-year span.
