STARKVILLE — Mississippi State men’s basketball coach Ben Howland had to set last week’s practices around final exams.

The Bulldogs had five days of no games with practices and final exams being the main focus. Howland gave his team Monday and Tuesday off to recuperate and study. They hit the practice courts on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday to get ready for the next game.

Although it wasn’t ideal, Howland was happy with the way the schedule played out. MSU (6-2) is back on the court as it plays host to East Tennessee State University (7-2) 7 p.m. today (SEC Network) inside Humphrey Coliseum in non-conference action.

“Ours was a little longer and I actually like that,” Howland said. “I’m glad we didn’t play a game coming out of finals on Saturday. I think that would be more difficult because you’re still fried from studying and doing the things you have to do to get ready for your finals, so I think this is actually better.”

MSU enters with a three-game winning streak after beating Northwestern State 65-59 on Nov. 28, Oregon State 74-57 on Dec. 1 and Georgia State 82-60 on Dec. 4. MSU has never won four in a row under Howland, who is in his second year.

Howland said he wasn’t able to go over everything he wanted to in practice last week because time didn’t allow for it. He also said the youth of the team played a factor.

“We came in the morning and went through all our sets,” Howland said. “We still don’t even know that well and part of it is we’re so young. We still have guys that are learning how to learn. We’ll do some more of that this coming week before we play Monday.”

Howland said sophomore guard Xavian Stapleton was able to practice an hour and a half, the longest he has practiced this year. Stapleton, a Louisiana Tech transfer, has been sidelined since his arrival in the summer of 2015 with two left knee injuries. He has been practicing more and more as of late and Howland said the earliest he would make his MSU debut is Dec. 22 against Morehead State at home.

Howland said freshman forward Abdul Ado has been cleared to practice after recording a 4.0 grade point average this fall. He had to pass at least nine hours to practice with the Bulldogs. The NCAA ruled the Chattanooga, Tennessee, native ineligible for this season due to a discrepancy with his transcript from Nigeria.

“It is nice being able to have everybody out there,” Howland said.

MSU has five players averaging double figures. Sophomore guard/forward Quinndary Weatherspoon leads the Bulldogs with 18.3 points per game, while senior point guard I.J. Ready is averaging 12.1 points, freshman guard Tyson Carter is averaging 10.6 points, sophomore forward Aric Holman is averaging 10.5 points and freshman guard Mario Kegler is averaging 10.1 points. Holman leads MSU with 6.1 rebounds per game.

East Tennessee State, who is coached by former Tennessee assistant coach Steve Forbes, had a five-game winning streak snapped with a 75-61 loss at Dayton last Saturday. Senior guard T.J. Cromer leads the Buccaneers with 17.4 points per game.

“They’re very talented, they’re a problem and they’re good,” Howland said. “They’re an older team with juniors and seniors. They have a very good coach, so they’re going to be another tough game on our schedule.”

Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait

Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.