The Mississippi State University men’s basketball team will open regular season play Saturday night against Southland Conference member Nicholls State. The Colonels, who hail from Thibodaux, La., open a tough non-conference schedule against the Bulldogs. Some other noteworthy opponents for the Colonels include 1990 national champions University of Nevada at Las Vegas, 2000 national champions Michigan State and in-state rival Louisiana State University. This is just the second meeting ever between the Bulldogs and the Colonels, the last being in 1995 when State pulled out a 16-point victory.
The Colonels are led by 6-foot-4-inch guard Earnest Porter, who averaged 8.3 points a contest last season. Porter is the leading remaining scorer from last season’s team and should be the primary scorer for the 2001-02 edition of the Nicholls State basketball team. Nicholls State finished last season with a 14-11 record and did not reach postseason play.
State is led by seniors Marckell Patterson and Michael Gholar, who look to improve on an 18-13 record from a season ago. Patterson is the leading remaining scorer from last year’s team, averaging 12.2 points a game in about 27 minutes. The Bulldogs are also paced by returning junior Derrick Zimmerman and junior newcomer Michal Ignerski. Zimmerman averaged 4.6 points a game last season, and Ignerski, who transferred from Eastern Oklahoma State College, averaged 17.3 points a game.