Men’s Basketball Ends The Season With A Trip To Lynch Street
Mississippi Valley State Game Notes
JACKSON, Miss. – The Mississippi Valley State University men’s basketball program heads to the Capital City for its 2021-22 regular season finale against the Blue Bengals from Jackson State University.
Records: Mississippi Valley State (2-25, 2-15 SWAC) | Jackson State (10-18, 8-9 SWAC)
Location: Jackson, Mississippi – Lee E. Williams Athletic and Assembly Center
Series History: Jackson State Leads 60-50
Last Meeting: February 5, 2022 | Jackson State 69, Mississippi Valley State 65 | Itta Bena, Mississippi (R.W. Harrison HPER Complex)
Winning Streak: Jackson State (W5) | Mississippi Valley State’s Last Win: March 2, 2019 (60-57)
Mississippi Valley State Overview
MVSU has made the most three-pointers on average in the conference with 7.1, rank second in fewest turnovers committed (364) and turnover margin (2.3) while slotting in the upper-half for scoring offense (67.1) and steals a night (7.6).
Kadar Waller has been calm and collected at the free-throw line, draining 87.5% of his attempts to rank among the 30-best in the nation.
David McCoy has stolen the ball at a rate of 1.62 per contest to rank ninth in the SWAC while Gary Grant leads the Devils in rebounding (4.8), blocks (13) and double-doubles (3) to go along with Devin Gordon’s team-high 11.2 points a game among active players.
Scouting The Opponent: Jackson State Tigers
The Tigers would lock up the seventh seed in the SWAC Tournament with a victory on Saturday but could fall completely out of the top eight with an upset loss to the Devils and an Alabama State victory over Grambling in Montgomery.
It will be an emotional day in the arena as Senior Night festivities will take place along with this being the final home game of Head Coach Wayne Brent’s storied career at JSU.
The Blue and White have honed their craft on the defensive side of the ball in 2021-22, rejecting a second-best 4.1 shots per game as well as allowing only 65.7 points a night to also rank second in the SWAC.
Six-foot-seven senior and SWAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year Jayveous McKinnis has done just about everything for Jackson State as the big man in the middle is sixth in the country for blocked shots (3.04), leads the league in double-doubles (13), slots top-15 nationally for rebounding (10.0) and shoots 56.2% from the field (best in SWAC, top-30 in NCAA).
Your financial support, whether it be through purchasing season tickets, making an annual donation or committing to a major gift, directly benefits Valley’s student-athletes in the classroom and in sports.
