Bulldogs Travel To Nashville To Face Vanderbilt

Saturday, February 25

Nashville, Tenn.

3:00 PM

Mississippi State

Vanderbilt

MSU travels to Nashville to play Vanderbilt on Saturday.

Bulldogs Travel To Nashville To Face Vanderbilt

February 24, 2017 | Men's Basketball

MSU Game Notes Vanderbilt Game Notes SEC Notes Watch ESPN

STARKVILLE, Miss. — It was just a year ago Mississippi State's Quinndary Weatherspoon hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to shock Vanderbilt after trailing by as many as 17 points. On Saturday, the Bulldogs look to recapture that magic when they visit the Commodores at Memorial Gymnasium looking to snap a season-long five-game losing streak.

Tip is set for 3 p.m. CT on ESPNU, with Keith Fitzgerald and Chris Spatola handling the broadcast. The game can also be heard on the MSU radio network with veterans Jim Ellis and Richard Williams on the call.

Mississippi State stands at 14-13 on the season, 5-10 in league play after losing to Ole Miss in overtime on Tuesday, 87-82. I.J. Ready led the Bulldogs with 20 points, while Mario Kegler added 15 to go along with his 8 rebounds.

Vanderbilt enters the Music City contest 15-13, 8-7, after its 67-56 win at Tennessee Wednesday night.

THE SERIES
Vanderbilt leads the all-time series, 77-48, 46-9 in Nashville.

COACHES
Ben Howland is in his second year at MSU and 21^st overall. As a head coach in four different stops, he is 429-236 with a 28-30 mark with the Bulldogs.

Bryce Drew is in his first year at Vanderbilt. In six years overall, he's 139-62.

QUOTABLE
"The season is not over. We hit a little downfall, but I think that with the three games we have left in the conference, we can still make a run at it." — MSU senior guard I.J. Ready on his team's slide.

NEXT 2
At South Carolina on Feb. 28 before closing out the regular season on March 4 against LSU at home.

BULLDOG BITES

Mississippi State has won three out of the last four against Vanderbilt, while the two have split the last four meetings in Nashville. The last 10 overall, it's 5-5.
Last year, the Bulldogs beat the Commodores on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Quinndary Weatherspoon as MSU rallied from a 17-point, second-half deficit. It was MSU's first buzzer beater since Brian Bryant made a 15-foot jumper at South Carolina on Feb. 29, 2012.
The last three games in this series have been decided by a total of 14 points.
The loss to Ole Miss gave the Rebels their second season sweep in three years but just their third in 20 years.
The overtime marked MSU's first of year and the 111th all-time (60-51). The Bulldogs are now 6-4 against the Rebels in overtime affairs.
The 13 steals collected against Ole Miss was the most in SEC play this year.
Mississippi State's five-game losing streak matches the longest under Ben Howland. MSU hasn't lost six straight since losing 13 in a row in 2014.
Quinndary Weatherspoon is 15 points shy of 800 for his career.
Senior guard I.J. Ready had 3 steals against Ole Miss to move past Winsome Frazier for the ninth most in school history with 149.
Freshman Lamar Peters has a team-high 54 made 3-pointers, which is tied for the fourth-most by an MSU freshman in school history. He needs just 14 more to tie Barry Stewart's mark of 68 set in 2007.
Mississippi State has three players with 10-plus, 30-minute games this year — Quinndary Weatherspoon (18), I.J. Ready (13) and Mario Kegler (12).
Aric Holman's 56 blocked shots are the fourth-most in the SEC.
I.J. Ready leads the SEC with his 2.6 assist/turnover ratio.
MSU seeks its 15th win this season, the most since having 21 in 2012.
KenPom.com has MSU as the least experienced team of all 351 DI programs at .69.