Radford @ Mississippi State preview

Mississippi State looks to win back-to-back games for the first time in a month when it hosts Radford on Wednesday. The Bulldogs bounced back from a disappointing loss to Louisiana Tech on Dec. 5 with a 67-61 victory over Kansas State as part of the Never Forget Tribute Classic in Newark, NJ on Saturday, and they hope to build on the big win by improving to 5-1 in Starkville this season.

"Kansas State is a good team and that's a good win for our team moving forward," Mississippi State coach Ben Howland told reporters. "Credit our players for their toughness and fortitude." The Bulldogs had won 26 consecutive non-conference home games, which was the longest active streak by an SEC team, before their loss to Louisiana Tech, and they hope to begin another long unbeaten run at home in their first meeting with a Big South Conference team since 2006. Mississippi State has won 20 consecutive games when holding the opposition to 60 or fewer points, and hopes to put the defensive clamps on a Radford squad, which has been held to 57.7 points over its last four losses.The Highlanders suffered their second straight setback after a 71-49 drubbing at the hands of Duquesne on Saturday, and they hope to kick start a sputtering campaign by knocking off a power conference opponent on the road for the second time this season following a 67-56 win against Northwestern on Nov. 19.

TV: 8 p.m. ET

ABOUT RADFORD (3-6): Leroy Butts flirted with a double-double as he scored a team-high 12 points and pulled down nine rebounds in the loss to Duquesne. Carlik Jones and Travis Fields each added nine points as the Highlanders were held to their lowest offensive output of the season while being limited to less than 50 points for the first time since Dec. 19, 2017. "For the most part and especially early we didn't play the right way," Radford coach Mike Jones told reporters. "They're not just going to let you come down and score on the first option so you're going to have to move the ball."

ABOUT MISSISSIPPI STATE (7-2): Tyson Carter scored seven of his team-leading 14 points from the free throw line and dished out four assists to help the Bulldogs knock off Kansas State for the first time in program history. Carter needs two points to overtake Larry Fry (1,079) for 34th place on the Bulldogs' all-time scoring list. Abdul Ado added 13 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots to move within four blocks of moving into seventh place on the all-time list. Robert Woodward registered 12 points and 10 rebounds to notch the second double-double of his career while D.J. Stewart Jr. finished with 10 points.

TIP-INS

1. Mississippi State is 34-4 in non-conference home games under Howland.

2. Bulldogs F Reggie Perry has scored in double figures in eight of nine games this season.

3. Radford has dropped nine of its last 10 non-conference road games.

PREDICTION: Mississippi State 82, Radford 62