The Official #18 Tennessee vs. Mississippi State Game Thread, 7:00 PM ET, SEC Network

#1

YankeeVol

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#1
#18 Tennessee Volunteers: 10-3 (4-3 SEC)

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vs.

Mississippi State: 9-7 (4-4 SEC)

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GAME 13 | TENNESSEE vs. MISSOURI - Jan. 23, 2021 | 7:00 p.m. ET | Thompson-Boling Arena (4,191)

Line: UT -9.5
O/U: 128.5

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Mississippi State Game Notes

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#2
#2
THE SERIES

• Tennessee leads its all-time series with Mississippi State 85-44, dating to 1924. The Volunteers own a 46-11 advantage when the series is contested in Knoxville and have won two straight home games vs. the Bulldogs.
• Santiago Vescovi and Uroš Plavšic both scored 16 points in last season's loss in Starkville.
• Vols head coach Rick Barnes is 9-3 in head-to-head meetings against teams coached by Ben Howland (6-2 with Tennessee).
 
#3
#3
A WIN WOULD...

• Snap Tennessee's current two-game losing skid and avoid the program's first three-game losing streak since Jan. 25-Feb. 1 of last season (at Kansas, Texas A&M, at Mississippi State).
• Give the Vols three straight home wins over Mississippi State.
 
#4
#4
LAYUP LINES

• Freshman Jaden Springer missed Tennessee's last two games with an ankle injury suffered Jan. 16 against Vanderbilt.
• The Vols have struggled without Springer, having lost the last two without him in the lineup. In UT's only other loss, an in-game ankle injury vs. Alabama limited him to only five minutes played.
• Senior Yves Pons is coming off a season-high 20 points Saturday vs. Missouri. It was his first 20-point game of the season and the second of his career.
• Tennessee's 10 wins this season have come by an average of 22.8 point.
• During SEC play, only 4.7 points per game separate Tennessee's top seven scorers.
• Tennessee is No. 11 in the latest NCAA NET ratings, with wins over three teams in the top 35.
• The Vols entered last week ranked third nationally in turnover margin (+6.5) but committed 36 total turnovers in last week's two losses for a -5.0 turnover margin.
• Vols senior John Fulkerson has been named to the Wooden Award's Midseason Top-25 List.
 
#5
#5
DEFENSE WINS

• Tennessee ranks seventh in the NCAA in scoring defense, allowing just 59.8 points per game.
• According to KenPom, the Vols rank third in the NCAA in adjusted defensive efficiency, allowing only 88.1 points per 100 possessions. College teams typically average close to 70 possessions per game.
• The Vols are forcing 16.6 turnovers per game while converting those turnovers into 18.5 points per game. Tennessee's turnover margin stands at +5.5 (sixth nationally).
• Tennessee has forced 10 of 13 opponents to turn the ball over on 20 percent or more of their possessions.
• Tennessee has allowed only one opposing player to score 20 points all season (Xavier Pinson).
• Reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Year Yves Pons has 19 blocks through UT's first seven SEC games. Pons has 99 blocks in his last 44 games.
 
#6
#6
ABOUT MISSISSIPPI STATE
• Mississippi State has been one of the few programs across the country who has largely gone unscathed in terms of COVID-19 issues. The Bulldogs have played 16 games, compiling a 9-7 record overall and a 4-4 mark in conference play, while not having a game affected due to COVID-19. The Bulldogs' most recent result was a tough loss to SEC leader Alabama, 81-73, on Saturday night.
• Sixth-year head coach Ben Howland has a history of wanting to fill his frontcourt with big, physical players, and 2020-21 is proving to be much of the same style. Despite losing bucket-getter Reggie Perry after last season, Mississippi State leads the SEC in total rebounding margin (+8.6) and offensive rebounding percentage (.371).
• Sophomore forward Tolu Smith has led this physical frontcourt, averaging a league- and team-leading 8.8 rebounds per night, while also ranking third on the team in scoring, pouring in 13.2 points per outing.
• Senior Abdul Ado has joined Smith in the rebounding department, ranking second on the team and 12th in the SEC, hauling in 6.3 rebounds per night. Ado is also third among SEC players in blocks, with 2.1 per game.
• At the guard position, sophomore D.J. Stewart Jr. has been the Bulldogs' floor general, leading the team and ranking fourth in the SEC with 18.0 points per game. Stewart Jr. also sits in second on the team in assists, dishing out 2.5 per game.
• One in every three meteorologists in America is a graduate of Mississippi State's nationally recognized Meteorology program. It's a program that consists of both a professional meteorologist and broadcast meteorologist concentration. So, if the weather is crummy Tuesday, let's all blame the Bulldogs.
 
#8
#8
I would not mind seeing Tennessee play a four guard lineup at times with Pons or Fulkerson manning the post as it would create a lot of running opportunities and mismatches for Tennessee.

A win tonight would give Barnes 720 wins for his career.
 
#9
#9
I would not mind seeing Tennessee play a four guard lineup at times with Pons or Fulkerson manning the post as it would create a lot of running opportunities and mismatches for Tennessee.

A win tonight would give Barnes 720 wins for his career.

For whatever reason, TN can not run. IMO it’s because none of our 4 guards (while Springer is hurt) has enough speed to push the ball. That takes away one of Fulk’s advantages as he runs very well for a post player. Another reason why having Springer back is critical.
 
#13
#13
For whatever reason, TN can not run. IMO it’s because none of our 4 guards (while Springer is hurt) has enough speed to push the ball. That takes away one of Fulk’s advantages as he runs very well for a post player. Another reason why having Springer back is critical.
I think Keon is faster than Jaden, he could push. I just think he's just as likely to turn it over in transition than he is to create for someone else so he's probably discouraged from leading the break
 
#14
#14
For whatever reason, TN can not run. IMO it’s because none of our 4 guards (while Springer is hurt) has enough speed to push the ball. That takes away one of Fulk’s advantages as he runs very well for a post player. Another reason why having Springer back is critical.
It's amazing how bad our transition offense is considering our talent level on the perimeter.
 
#20
#20
Miss St, from a distance, are hard to figure out. They are 9-7, but have some quality wins along with some unflattering losses. I think their wins say more about them. They've beaten some teams with some hard nosed physical defenses in Florida & Mizzou, and kept it real close with Alabama. They haven't been run out the gym, and you have to imagine they got some grit to them. I also hear they have some good size, which I believe will bother us. I see another tough outing for our post players.

Without Springer, I do not like the match-up. Our guards have shown as of recent they are unable to carry the team when our post players are ineffective. We aren't playing as an elite defense as of late either. If we win, I imagine it will be because we held Miss St under 60, 65 max.

In the end I think we try to give Springer 10-15 minutes and he, along with a team more zoned in on playing high level defense gives us a spark and we pull this one out.

Tennessee - 68
Miss St - 62
 
#21
#21
It took nearly the entire first half for the streaming to work during the Missouri game. It kept timing out before loading. Don’t know if it is an issue with Verizon, Xfinity, Apple, the ESPN app, ESPN, SECNW+, or the SECNW. I’m trying to hold a spot by streaming other stuff. I must have clicked refresh 75 times before it finally loaded on Saturday. Then the stupid ad for Connor McGregor kept popping up. Grrr.
 
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#25
#25
Hopefully Springer doesn't have any setbacks. I think Alabama is pretty damn good, and Missouri is a good team as well. So far the Florida game was the only major letdown imo, since they were missing so much and haven't seemed to be too good as of yet.

Mississippi State though at home is a team we need to put away.
 

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