MSU’s Molinar named First Team All-SEC by media
MISSISSIPPI STATE ATHLETICS-
Iverson Molinar enters the 2021-22 season as one of the SEC’s top players and was chosen as an All-SEC Preseason First-Team selection by the media announced Tuesday.
Molinar heads into the 2021-22 season with 684 points and 109 assists during 61 career games. He has racked up 31 games in double figures and fired in 10-plus points during 30 of his 37 starts. The Bulldogs are 8-1 when Molinar has amassed 20-plus points.
Molinar is coming off a breakout sophomore season where he captured All-NIT Tournament Team honors. He buried 47.8 percent from the floor (183-of-383), 43.6 percent on three-pointers (44-of-101) and 80.4 percent (90-of-112) at the free throw line.
Molinar was among the SEC leaders in 16.7 points per game (4th), 47.8 field goal clip (5th), seven games of 20-plus points (T-7th) and 80.4 foul line mark (12th). His 500 total points was eighth-highest for a sophomore in program history.
Molinar improved his scoring average by 10.8 points per game between his freshman and sophomore seasons, the seventh-largest jump in the SEC over the last decade. He teamed with Tolu Smith and D.J. Stewart Jr. to average 45.3 points per game, which was second-best trio in the SEC.
Mississippi State was picked to finish eighth in the annual media preseason poll, while Vanderbilt’s Scotty Pippen Jr. garnered SEC Preseason Player of the Year status.
The Bulldogs begin the season with a four-game homestand versus North Alabama (Nov. 10 – 7 p.m. CT), Montana (Nov. 13 – TBA), Detroit Mercy (Nov. 17 – 7 p.m. CT) and Morehead State (Nov. 21 – 2 p.m. CT).
Mississippi State has landed a quartet of impact transfers in Garrison Brooks (North Carolina), D.J. Jeffries (Memphis), Rocket Watts (Michigan State) and Shakeel Moore (North Carolina State), coupled with a solid freshmen class which features ESPN top 100 recruit KeShawn Murphy, Alden Applewhite and Cam Carter.
The Bulldogs also return two of their top three scorers in Iverson Molinar and Tolu Smith from 2020-21. Molinar ranked among the SEC’s top 10 in points per game (16.7 – 4th), field goal percentage (47.8 – 5th) and 20-plus point games (8 – T-7th), while Smith was the SEC leader in rebounds per game (8.5) and double-doubles (8) last season.
Mississippi State captured a runner-up finish at the 2021 NIT as the Bulldogs earned a bid in postseason play for the third consecutive time when postseason tournament have been played. State won seven of its last 10 games, highlighted by a combined five NCAA NET Quad 1 and Quad 2 victories down the stretch.
