Miss. St. meets Memphis in NIT semifinals

Published Mar. 28, 2021 7:30 a.m. ET

Associated Press

No. 4 seed Mississippi State (18-14) vs. No. 1 seed Memphis (19-8)

NIT Semifinals, Comerica Center, Frisco, Texas; Sunday, 11 a.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: Mississippi State and Memphis are set to collide in the semifinals of the NIT. Memphis earned a 90-67 win over Colorado State in its most recent game, while Mississippi State won easily 84-62 against Louisiana Tech in its last outing.

TEAM LEADERSHIP: Landers Nolley II has put up 13.3 points and 4.1 rebounds to lead the way for the Tigers. Complementing Nolley is D.J. Jeffries, who is putting up 9.7 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. The Bulldogs have been led by D.J. Stewart Jr., who is averaging 16.4 points.

FACILITATING THE OFFENSE: Stewart has accounted for 43 percent of all Mississippi State field goals over the last three games. The junior guard has 18 field goals and 15 assists in those games.

PASSING FOR POINTS: The Tigers have recently used assists to create buckets more often than the Bulldogs. Memphis has an assist on 49 of 86 field goals (57 percent) over its previous three contests while Mississippi State has assists on 42 of 77 field goals (54.5 percent) during its past three games.

DID YOU KNOW: The Memphis defense has allowed only 62.7 points per game to opponents this season, ranking the Tigers 20th among Division I teams. The Mississippi State offense has averaged 69.5 points through 32 games (ranked 212th, nationally).

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