Louisiana State @ Mississippi State preview
Humphrey Coliseum
Last Meeting ( Jan 11, 2020 ) Mississippi State 59, Louisiana State 60
Mississippi State just ended a four-game losing streak in SEC play.
LSU will try to put a similar bad stretch behind it when it visits the Bulldogs on Wednesday night.
Mississippi State (11-9, 5-6) pulled away from South Carolina for a 75-59 victory on Saturday in Columbia, S.C.
D.J. Stewart Jr. led the way with 29 points, the most he has scored in an SEC game and just three points short of the career-high 32 he had in a double-overtime game against Dayton earlier this season.
"I thought D.J. was fantastic," Bulldogs coach Ben Howland said. "He's played great. Plus, he knocked down (four 3-pointers) -- I was really excited about him shooting his three and letting that go. ... I love it when he just lets it go and is confident in it."
Howland said he was pleased with his team's defense, even during the losing streak.
"We're playing as good of defense as we've played since I've been the coach at Mississippi State," he said.
The Bulldogs held South Carolina to 31.1 percent shooting (19 of 61), including 20 percent on 3-pointers (5 of 25), and had a 46-30 rebounding advantage.
This will be the Bulldogs' first conference home game in 22 days.
LSU (11-6, 6-4) started 5-1 in the SEC, but it has lost four of its last five games overall, a stretch that began and ended with losses to league-leading Alabama.
The Tigers lost on the road to the Crimson Tide 78-60 on Feb. 3, and their next scheduled game at Florida was postponed because of COVID-19 protocols.
"I tell our guys all the time, ‘Adversity visits the strong and lives in the weak,'" LSU coach Will Wade said. "We've got to be strong and make this a passing thing."
The Tigers' last three SEC losses have been by 30, 13 and 18 points. The other recent loss came against Texas Tech, when LSU got outscored 12-0 in the final 59 seconds.
"I believe in our players; I believe in our team," Wade said. "We hit a rough spot, and we've got to battle our way through it. ... We have to find our footing and get back going.
"We've got to pick up as many wins as we can going down the stretch."
--Field Level Media