Gophers hoops to resume home-and-home series at Mississippi State on Dec. 5

The Gophers men's basketball team will play Dec. 5 at Mississippi State to restart their home-and-home series, the Bulldogs announced Wednesday.

The two programs had scheduled to begin playing last season with the Gophers hosting the Bulldogs before the game was postponed due to the pandemic. Mississippi State will now play at Williams Arena in the 2022-23 season.

The Bulldogs, who are coached by Ben Howland, finished NIT runner-up and 18-15 last season, including ninth place in the SEC with an 8-10 record.

Howland struck gold on the transfer market this spring by signing North Carolina's Garrison Brooks and Memphis' D.J. Jeffries in the frontcourt.

Brooks and Jeffries are joining a 2021-22 roster that could include Howland's top three players returning. Leading rebounder Tolu Smith (8.5 rpg), leading scorer Iverson Molinar (16.7 ppg) and assist leader D.J. Stewart Jr. (3.1 apg) were all underclassmen. Stewart is testing the NBA draft process.

The Gophers, who finished 14-15 last season in Richard Pitino's last year, return one player from last season in sophomore forward Isaiah Ihnen. Pitino's replacement, former U assistant Ben Johnson, added six transfers so far with five scholarships remaining.

Johnson's first game coaching the Gophers at the Barn will be in an exhibition Nov. 1 vs. Concordia-St. Paul.