Missouri @ Mississippi State preview
Humphrey Coliseum
Last Meeting ( Feb 29, 2020 ) Mississippi State 67, Missouri 63
No. 13 Missouri's bid for a breakthrough season in the Southeastern Conference will continue when the Tigers visit the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Tuesday in Starkville, Miss.
The Bulldogs (6-4, 1-1 SEC) will offer a stern road test. They opened league play by winning 83-73 at Georgia, then went into double overtime with the visiting Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday before losing 78-73.
The Tigers (7-1, 1-1 SEC) are coming off an 81-68 victory at previously unbeaten Arkansas on Saturday.
Missouri was picked 10th in the preseason SEC poll. The Tigers were 7-11 in league play last season and just 5-13 in 2018-19.
Prior to beating the Razorbacks, the Tigers fell to then-No. 7 Tennessee, 73-53, at home. Coach Cuonzo Martin was concerned that loss could have a snowball effect emotionally.
"It's a very fragile state when you lose a game," Martin said. "I don't care what you're ranked or who you are. You got to have some guys in that locker room that got some grit to them, some toughness to them."
Mississippi State coach Ben Howland is looking for the same qualities in his group after the Bulldogs blew a nine-point, second-half lead against the Wildcats in Humphrey Coliseum.
"It is gonna hurt and it should hurt all of us," Howland said. "That motivates you to do better. If it doesn't hurt then it's a problem. But we will bounce back tomorrow...
"Then, we'll come back and have a good practice on Monday before we play a very good Missouri team on Tuesday. They're one of the best teams in the country. They just had a great win today at Arkansas, which is a fantastic win because Arkansas has been playing so well."
The Tigers beat the Razorbacks behind Jeremiah Tilmon scoring a career-high 25 points and grabbing 11 rebounds with his most dominant game in his four years. He is averaging 10.4 points and 7.8 rebounds this season.
Tilmon's strong play in the paint at Arkansas offset Missouri's ongoing struggle with perimeter shooting. The Tigers are hitting just 27.7 percent of their jumpers from 3-point range this season.
Martin noticed an uptick in Tilmon's play since he converted the decisive three-point play with one second left in Missouri's 54-53 victory over Bradley. At Arkansas, Tilmon scored 14 of his team's first 22 points.
"He was effective, he was posting, he was aggressive, he was assertive," Martin said. "I think it really started the second half of the Bradley game. Though he didn't get a lot of production (nine points, four rebounds) in the Tennessee game, I thought he was trying to post up, and this is the result of it. And hopefully he stays this way."
Both teams will be looking to clean up their offensive play. The Tigers turned the ball over 21 times at Arkansas and the Bulldogs had 16 turnovers against Kentucky.
"We were up nine after three free throws," Howland said. "Then we had three turnovers in a row that led to layups on the other end. We had 16 turnovers and that's way too many. Six or seven of those turnovers led to easy baskets for Kentucky. There were so many plays you can go with in this game -- missed free throws, turnovers, lack of execution."
Both teams feature strong guard play. The Bulldogs are led by Iverson Molinar (18.4 points per game) and D.J. Stewart Jr. (18.3), while the Tigers are paced by Xavier Pinson (15.0), Mark Smith (12.5) and Dru Smith (11.4).
--Field Level Media