Good morning! Preparation is the key to success, so naturally the Soccer Dawgs are getting loose as they gear up for their matchup against Brown tomorrow night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

What else did we throw into today’s Brew?

🏀 Rim Protectors
📈 Rising Up the Rankings
🐶 And much, much more!

🎥 COURTSIDE CONVERSATIONS

Courtside Conversations: Jimmy Bell Jr. Join Jimmy Bell Jr. courtside to hear about Coach Jans' pitch to him on coming to Mississippi State, the importance of the team’s trip to Portugal, and the story behind his nickname "Tunk."

🎙️DEAR OL’ STATE

Dear Ol’ State: Strong Midweek Wins For MSU Hoops. Both the men's and women's basketball teams keep rolling. On Tuesday night, the men blew out North Alabama, then on Wednesday, the women routed New Orleans. Joel Coleman and Logan Lowery catch you up on all the action, plus bring you exclusive interviews with players Jimmy Bell Jr., Shakeel Moore and Andrew Taylor on the men's team, as well as women's head coach Sam Purcell.

🎧️  Listen to “Dear Ol’ State” on HailState+

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📈 STOCK UP

🔼 Rim Protectors. It was a defensive masterclass from Mississippi State women’s basketball as they allowed just 26 points to New Orleans in their victory yesterday afternoon. As a team, State came away with 13 steals and added 12 blocked shots. A total of four State players finished in double-digits—with Jerkaila Jordan and her 24 points leading the team—and each Bulldog scored points in the game.

🔼 Top Drawer. Following an elite defensive performance on the week of November 14th, defender Megan Day was named as an honorary member of the Top-Drawer Soccer Team of the Week. Stepping up her role on the last line of defense, Day helped the Bulldogs to their 1-0 victory after playing all 110 minutes and didn’t allow a single goal.

Day and the the rest of the Soccer Dawgs will look to repeat their defensive performance in the second round of the NCAA Tournament against Brown on Friday night.

🔼 Moving On Up. From unranked to top-25, Bulldog tennis men’s duo Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez put together an incredible fall season. Adding to the trend, Jovanovic also shot up 55 spots in the ITA Rankings in singles play, moving all the way up to No. 13 in the nation.

🔼 Took Five. After five hard-fought, back and forth sets, the Volleydawgs came away with the 3-2 victory over Auburn at home in front of the Maroon and White faithful.

🗣️ “I am so proud of how they responded after being down at the switch in the fifth set. It shows me that even though it's late in the season, we're still getting better and working on ourselves.” - Julie Darty Dennis

Offensively, Karli Schmidt led the way with 17 kills in the match while Amina Shackelford added 10 more along with six digs and a block. Next up, the Bulldogs will travel to Oxford, MS, to face off against Ole Miss for the second time this season.

🔼 Numbers Game. The numbers are in, and the first NCAA Rankings of the season for men’s golf are in with the Bulldogs slotted in at No. 18. State also has two individuals ranked in the top 100 with Josep Serra at No. 95 and Hunter Logan sitting inside the top 25 players in the nation.

The 18th-ranked Bulldogs will get back to work and resume action on Feb. 19 at the Watersound Invitational hosted by Florida State.

🤔 BULLDOG TRIVIA

Swiping left and right. When you need a change of possession, Jerkaila Jordan has been the one to call on to swipe a steal this season.

Our question today—do you know where she ranks in the SEC in steals per game?

Think you know the answer? Scroll on down to the bottom to find out.

📬 STICK WITH US

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🐶 DAWG DAILY

Today’s Dawg Daily: 4-0 Start + How Well Do You Know Southern Miss? The women's basketball team has improved to 4-0 to start the season, so tune in to see what Joey and Jalyn have to say about their 61 point win on Wednesday. Plus, hear about the position breakdown for the Southern Miss Golden Eagles

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📆 LOOKING AHEAD

Thursday 11/16

No scheduled events

Friday 11/17

⚽️ Soccer vs. Brown @ 5:30pm in Stanford, CA | Watch | Live Stats

🐶 Click here to see the full Mississippi State Athletics Calendar

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: Fourth!

Jordan currently ranks fourth in the SEC with 3.75 steals per game.

🐶 Have a great Thursday y'all!