The Official #5 Tennessee @ Mississippi State Game Thread, 7:00 PM ET, SEC Network

#1
YankeeVol

YankeeVol

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#1
#5 Tennessee Volunteers: 11-3 (1-0 SEC)
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Mississippi State Bulldogs: 11-3 (0-1 SEC)
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GAME 15 | TENNESSEE at MISS ST - Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 | 7 p.m. ET | Knoxville, Tenn. | Humphrey Coliseum (9,100)


Line: UT -1.5
O/U: 128.5

TV: SEC Network / Watch
Radio: Vol Network / Listen / Live Stats
Satellite Radio: SiriusXM: 106 & 190
Online: WatchESPN.com

Miss. St. Game Notes

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#2
#2
THE MATCHUP

• Tennessee is 9-1 in its last 10 outings against Mississippi State, dating back to 2/27/18. The Volunteers were ranked in all nine wins and unranked in the lone defeat (2/1/20).
• The Volunteers' five straight wins over the Bulldogs, dating back to 1/26/21, have come by an average of 14.0 ppg. The streak includes the bigest margin of victory in series history by either side, a 34-point home triumph, 87-53, on 1/3/23.
• Mississippi State was tabbed seventh in the SEC preseason poll after finishing 21-13 (8-10) and reaching the NCAA Tournament last year.
• Graduate student forward Tolu Smith III, a Preseason First Team All-SEC pick who has played in just two games due to an injury that kept him out of the first 12 contests, is averaging a team-best 14.5 ppg, shooting 9-of-11 from the floor and 11-of-12 from the line.
• Rick Barnes is 22-5 against the SEC's two Mississippi schools as a head coach, including 19-5 in his nine-year tenure at Tennessee.
 
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#3
#3
OPENED OVER OLE MISS

• Tennessee defeated #22/19 Ole Miss (1/6/24) in its first SEC game, 90-64. It marked the Volunteers' largest win over a ranked team since a 30-point decision, 88- 58, on 2/16/13 against #25/RV Kentucky. It was also the second- largest win by any team against an AP-ranked foe this season.
• UT has now snapped both 13- game winning streaks in Ole Miss history, beating the Rebels in the SEC opener in Knoxville in both 2007-08 and 2023-24.
• The Vols, who led by 20-plus for the final 14:56, set season highs in second-chance points (22) and second-chance margin (plus-17).
• In the victory over the Rebels, Zakai Zeigler (17 points, 10 assists) and Jonas Aidoo (24 points, 10 rebounds) became the first Volunteer duo to have two different types of double-doubles in the same game since Jordan Bone (18 points, 10 assists) and Grant Williams (22 points, 10 rebounds) 2/2/19 at Texas A&M.
• Zeigler's points/assists double- double was the sixth of his career, setting a new school record.
 
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#4
#4
NEWS & NOTES

• This will be Rick Barnes' 1,200th game as a head coach, making him the 13th individual (min. 10 years in DI) to reach that mark, including the third active coach to do so.
• Tennessee is already in its fifth stretch of the season with over a week between home games.
• Zakai Zeigler is shooting 14-of-33 (42.4 percent) from 3-point range over the last four games and has four-plus makes in three of them. Prior to that stretch he was at 104- of-326 (31.9 percent) from deep in his career, including 9-of-37 (24.3 percent) this season, with four makes twice in 75 appearances.
• Per Will Warren, Tennessee has registered at least 1.0 point per possession in each of its last eight games, its longest streak since notching 21 in a row during the 2018-19 season.
• The SEC leads all conferences with 42 total Quad 1/2 victories and the Volunteers pace the league with six such decisions. Tennessee is also tied with Auburn for the fewest number of Quad 4 contests (four) in the SEC.
 
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#9
#9
CAVPUT said:
We need Knecht to snap out of this funk. We will be fine during the season, but come tournament time, Knecht is our silver bullet. Gotta have him back to being himself.
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I’m concerned he struggles with tonight States physical play. Hopefully, he at least gets others some good looks though.
 
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#11
#11
Was thinking about the strength of our schedule just now, so I glanced at KenPom for fun. This season, we either have played or will play 9 of the current top 20 teams in his rankings. That's fantastic. Maybe others don't, but I feel like I sometimes take for granted the toughness and overall quality of our schedule year after year (especially the non-conference games). It's a pretty cool sign of how well established our program is and how far we've come since the turn of the century.
 
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#12
#12
CAVPUT said:
We need Knecht to snap out of this funk. We will be fine during the season, but come tournament time, Knecht is our silver bullet. Gotta have him back to being himself.
Click to expand...

Creeker said:
I’m concerned he struggles with tonight States physical play. Hopefully, he at least gets others some good looks though.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I'd say he's in a funk. He's only had 10 or more attempts once in the last 5 games, he scored 15 that night. He's also had less than 25 minutes in the last 4 games (before then he had played 25 or more in every game except TTU at the start of the year).

I think part of it is he's not had to take as many shots or play as many minutes, ZZ stepping up and Mashack as well being a big factor. Also Santi appears to have gotten out of his rut with the extra break as he's now played 30 or more minutes in 3 of the last 4 games.
 
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#19
#19
Clad in Big Orange said:
Wonder if it’s time to start Mashack over Knecht just to go with stronger defense. Knecht might benefit from coming off the bench.
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We are currently in the middle of a 7 game winning streak and playing our best ball of the year, I wouldn’t tinker with the starting lineup. I also think part of Mashack’s recent success is that he’s a “forgotten” man and not huge point of the opponents scout, that likely changes with a move into the starting 5. You can not start him and he still plays big minutes, much like he has of late.
 
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#22
#22
This is not a matchup that favors Knecht, but we sure do need him to have a nice game tonight if we want to win.

MSU is a big, physical defense and we’ve seen that Knecht tends to wilt when defenses get rough with him and take away his ability to drive to the basket and collapse on him in the paint. Tonight would be a great opportunity for him to grow.
 
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#24
#24
bleedingTNorange said:
We are currently in the middle of a 7 game winning streak and playing our best ball of the year, I wouldn’t tinker with the starting lineup. I also think part of Mashack’s recent success is that he’s a “forgotten” man and not huge point of the opponents scout, that likely changes with a move into the starting 5. You can not start him and he still plays big minutes, much like he has of late.
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Giving MSU the first four minutes to run their offense, allowing Mash and Barnes to observe, then send in the stopper with specific instructions. Wouldn’t change a thing.
 
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#25
#25
I think Mashack will be the X factor for us tonight. I think he has the ability to get into the paint and score or draw fouls. He has improved his free throw percentage. There will be times tonight where we are struggling and need a basket and he will show up. I really don’t think DK or JJJ will be effective on drives to the rim although it may open up shots on the perimeter for others. Tonight would be a great night to make some threes at a high rate but the numbers say we will not based off the three point percentage defense of state. Tonight might be a good night to listen to Bob and Burt because if watching you might be throwing things at the TV because of scoring droughts or the officiating. I’m anxious to see how Aidoo plays tonight.
 
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