Previewing Mississippi State at Vanderbilt
Following a heartbreaking 77-74 loss at Kentucky on Tuesday, Vanderbilt will look to bounce back and record its first Southeastern Conference win of the season on Saturday as it welcomes Mississippi State to Nashville.
Mississippi State (7-4 overall, 2-1 SEC) at Vanderbilt (4-4, 0-2)
When: Saturday, January 9 | Noon (CT)
Where: Memorial Gymnasium | Nashville, Tenn.
TV: SEC Network
KenPom prediction: Mississippi State by 4
| Vanderbilt | Pos | Mississippi State |
|---|---|---|
|
Scotty Pippen Jr., So., 6-3 32.5 mpg, 22.0 ppg, 5.0 apg 46% eFG, 81% FT |
PG |
D.J. Stewart Jr., R-So., 6-6 35.8 mpg, 18.8 ppg, 2.5 apg 48% eFG, 67% FT |
|
Jordan Wright, So., 6-6 17.7 mpg, 8.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg 57% eFG, 67% FT |
SG |
Iverson Molinar, So., 6-3 32.4 mpg, 18.6 ppg, 3.6 apg 48% eFG, 83% FT |
|
D.J. Harvey, Jr., 6-6 20.3 mpg, 6.2 ppg, 2.8 rpg 33% eFG, 2-2 FT |
SF |
Jalen Johnson, R-Sr., 6-6 21.7 mpg, 7.7 ppg, 2.6 rpg 42% eFG, 86% FT |
|
Myles Stute, Fr., 6-7 24.6 mpg, 11.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg 46% eFG, 89% FT |
PF |
Tolu Smith, R-So., 6-10 30.9 mpg, 12.7 ppg, 8.9 rpg 54% eFG, 61% FT |
|
Dylan Disu, So, 6-9 30.4 mpg, 12.3 ppg, 9.0 rpg 44% eFG, 64% FT |
C |
Abdul Ado, R-Sr., 6-11 26.3 mpg, 5.4 ppg, 6.3 rpg 50% eFG, 74% FT |
|
Trey Thomas, Fr., 5-11 20.4 mpg, 5.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg 40% eFG, 4-4 FT |
6 |
Javian Davis, R-So., 6-9 18.6 mpg, 4.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg 36% eFG, 44% FT |
|
Quentin Millora-Brown, Jr., 6-10 16.2 mpg, 4.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg 79% eFG, 44% FT |
7 |
Deivon Smith, Fr., 6-1 20.6 mpg, 4.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg 28% eFG, 73% FT |
|
Max Evans, Sr., 6-2 18.7 mpg, 3.5 ppg, 1.8 rpg 30% eFG, 63% FT |
8 |
Quinten Post, So., 7-0 7.9 mpg, 3.3 ppg, 1.5 rpg 44% eFG, 50% FT |
After competing from start to finish with a Kentucky team that is showing improvements from a rough nonconference slate, Vanderbilt – which registered its best performance of the year – will face a tougher opponent Saturday in Mississippi State, which is coming off a 78-63 win over Missouri and has won four of its last five.
The Bulldogs – who average 74.4 points per game on 45.7% shooting – are led by a dominant trio of guards D.J. Stewart Jr. and Iverson Molinar and forward Tolu Smith, who make up 67% of the offense. Alongside that group, forward Jalen Johnson and center Abdul Ado are two consistent players that round out MSU's lineup.
In their contest against Mizzou, the Bulldogs struggled in the first half and trailed 39-27 at halftime, but turned things around in the second half, outscoring the Tigers 51-24 to record the 15-point victory. State's three main guys – Stewart (24 points), Molinar (20) and Smith (15) – combined for 59 points as the team shot 52% on the night.
Molinar missed MSU's first three games due to COVID-19, and the Bulldogs lost two of them (both by 11 to Clemson and Liberty). Since his return, Mississippi State is 6-2 with its only two defeats both coming in double overtime to Dayton and Kentucky.
Smith and Ado have blocked 12 and 22 shots, respectively, one reason why State holds opponents to 43.8% 2-point shooting.
Vanderbilt – which dropped last season's meeting against Mississippi State, 80-70, in Starkville, Miss. – leads the all-time series 79-51, but has lost two straight. The Commodores' last win over the Bulldogs came on Feb. 14, 2018 in Nashville, as Jeff Roberson scored 22 points, Riley LaChance and Joe Toye each had 16 points and Payton Willis tallied 15 to lead them to a slim 81-80 victory.
Currently putting up 73.1 points per outing on 43% shooting, Vandy shown improvements – especially getting more players than just Scotty Pippen Jr. going and taking care of the basketball – against UK, and it'll have to continue to do so in order to compete with a tough, physical squad like Mississippi State.
This will be the first of two scheduled matchups between the two teams this year, as they’ll also square off February 13 in Starkville.