Vanderbilt @ Mississippi State preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 19, 2019 ) Mississippi State 71, Vanderbilt 55

Mississippi State missed out on a resume-building victory last time out and looks to rebound at home Saturday night in an SEC matchup against last-place Vanderbilt, which just shocked the top team in the conference. The Bulldogs have won five of their last seven games overall, but dropped an 80-72 decision at 16th-ranked Kentucky on Tuesday while shooting just 36.8 from the field.

“We’ve got to bounce back from this and be ready to go here because we’re halfway through the league,” Mississippi State coach Ben Howland told reporters. “We’ve got nine games left, five on the road and four at home. Every one of them is critical, honestly. We’re trying to find a way to the NCAA Tournament.” The Bulldogs won 71-55 at Vanderbilt last season, but the Commodores will have a bounce in their step Saturday after knocking off first-place LSU to end the Tigers’ 10-game winning streak 99-90 on Wednesday. Vanderbilt ended a league-record 26-game losing streak against SEC foes with the victory - their first in league play since March 3, 2018 - as Saben Lee poured in 33 points and fellow junior guard Maxwell Evans added 31. “I feel like if we continue to play and do the things that we do we can have more nights like this,” Commodores coach Jerry Stackhouse told reporters. “This is not the end-all for us. This is not what we want to accomplish, to win one game in the SEC. … Now we got that monkey off our back and now y’all can write something else. But now we start talking about building the team that we’re trying to build.”

TIME: 8:30 p.m. ET. TV: SEC Network

ABOUT VANDERBILT (9-13, 1-8 SEC): The Commodores had lost nine in a row - eight since leading scorer Aaron Nesmith (23.0) went down with a foot injury - before Lee and Evans produced career highs, making 9-of-12 from 3-point range combined. Lee is the leading active scorer (16.7) and also tops the team in assists (4.5) and steals (1.5) while Evans is third at 8.3 and went 7-for-35 from the field in five games before draining 10-of-18 on Wednesday. Freshman guard Scotty Pippen Jr. is averaging 12.8 points over the past four games to boost his season mark to 11.3, but shoots just 38.6 percent from floor overall.

ABOUT MISSISSIPPI STATE (14-8, 5-4): Sophomore forward Reggie Perry is averaging 21.7 points over the past three games to push his team-leading mark to 17.1 with an SEC-most 10.0 rebounds per game and 12 double-doubles. Senior guard Tyson Carter is second on the team in scoring (13.2) and first in assists (3.3) while sophomore backcourt mate Robert Woodard II (12.0 points, 7.1 rebounds) has drained 19-of-27 from the field the past three contests. Junior guard Nick Weatherspoon is the only other player averaging in double figures scoring (11.9), but went 2-for-11 from the field versus Kentucky.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. The Bulldogs are second in the SEC in rebound margin (plus-8.3) and Vanderbilt is 13th (minus-2.9).

2. Mississippi State freshman G D.J. Stewart (8.6 points) scored 35 total on 12-of-19 from the field the last two games.

3. Vanderbilt freshman G Jordan Wright is averaging just 4.5 points after scoring a season-high 11 versus LSU.

PREDICTION: Mississippi State 74, Vanderbilt 66