Mississippi State men’s basketball has learned its opponents for the Arizona Tip-Of slated for November 28-29 at the Mullett Arena in Tempe, Arizona.
The Bulldogs will be joined by Butler, Northwestern and UNLV, tournament organizers announced Thursday. Matchups, game times and television network details have yet to be announced.
MSU has won both of its non-conference tournaments titles under Chris Jans. The Bulldogs defeated Marquette and Utah to capture the 2022 Fort Myers Tip-Off followed by victories over Washington State and Northwestern to claim the 2023 Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament.
Overall, Mississippi State has posted an 8-3 non-conference mark versus schools from the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12 and the Pac-12 conferences in two seasons with Jans at the helm.
Mississippi State has posted a 2-3 mark against the Arizona Tip-Off field and has won both of its meetings with Northwestern. Josh Hubbard erupted for a non-conference season’s best 29 points to spark a 66-57 victory over the Wildcats last season.
MSU and Butler haven’t met on the hardwood since the 2003 NCAA Tournament Round of 64, while UNLV won the last meeting between the two programs during the 2013-14 season in Las Vegas.
The Bulldogs will open the 2024-25 season versus West Georgia from the Atlantic Sun Conference on November 4 at Humphrey Coliseum. State also will begin a two-year series with SMU on November 22 at Moody Coliseum in Dallas followed by a home return matchup in 2025-26.
The program previously announced it will start a home-and-home series with Memphis on December 21 at FedEx Forum. The Bulldogs also will return to Cadence Bank Arena in Tupelo for a second straight season and will take on McNeese, a fellow 2024 NCAA Tournament participant on December 14.
Mississippi State will play host to Southeastern Louisiana on November 12 and Prairie View A&M on December 8 at Humphrey Coliseum.
Over his first two seasons, Jans has guided the Bulldogs to a pair of 21-win seasons and consecutive NCAA Tournament trips.
Philip Poe is sports editor.
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