Wednesday, March 8
Nashville, Tenn. (Bridgestone Arena)
6:00 PM
Mississippi State
vs
LSU
Bulldogs open the tournament against LSU.
Bulldogs, Tigers Square Off, Again
March 07, 2017 | Men's Basketball
STARKVILLE, Miss. — It was just four days ago Mississippi State defeated LSU on Senior Night. Now, the two play again in Wednesday's first game at the SEC Tournament.
Tip at Bridgestone Arena is set for 6 p.m. CT on the SEC Network, with Tom Hart, Jon Sundvold and Laura Rutledge 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 15-15 on the season, 6-12 in league play after cruising past LSU last Saturday, 88-76. Quinndary Weatherspoon led the Bulldogs with 18 points, while senior I.J. Ready dished out a career-high 13 assists.
LSU enter the contest 10-20, 2-16.
As for Ready, he enters the game with 881 career points and is in the Top 10 at MSU in assists (394) and steals (152).
THE SERIES
LSU leads the all-time series, 109-100. In neutral site affairs, the Bulldogs hold a 4-3 advantage.
COACHES
Ben Howland is in his second year at MSU and 21st overall. As a head coach in four different stops, he is 430-238 with a 29-32 mark with the Bulldogs.
Johnny Jones is in his fifth year with the Tigers and is 90-71. In 17 years overall, he's 295-233.
QUOTABLE
"That was huge. I think everybody was growing tired of not getting a win during close games. That South Carolina game and the previous game before that we had a great chance of winning but it is frustrating. We are happy for our players for their win against LSU, and now we have to turn around and try to do it again." — MSU coach Ben Howland on snapping the seven-game losing streak.
NEXT UP
With a win, MSU plays at Alabama at approximately 2:30 p.m. Thursday.
Tip at Bridgestone Arena is set for 6 p.m. CT on the SEC Network, with Tom Hart, Jon Sundvold and Laura Rutledge 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 15-15 on the season, 6-12 in league play after cruising past LSU last Saturday, 88-76. Quinndary Weatherspoon led the Bulldogs with 18 points, while senior I.J. Ready dished out a career-high 13 assists.
LSU enter the contest 10-20, 2-16.
As for Ready, he enters the game with 881 career points and is in the Top 10 at MSU in assists (394) and steals (152).
THE SERIES
LSU leads the all-time series, 109-100. In neutral site affairs, the Bulldogs hold a 4-3 advantage.
COACHES
Ben Howland is in his second year at MSU and 21st overall. As a head coach in four different stops, he is 430-238 with a 29-32 mark with the Bulldogs.
Johnny Jones is in his fifth year with the Tigers and is 90-71. In 17 years overall, he's 295-233.
QUOTABLE
"That was huge. I think everybody was growing tired of not getting a win during close games. That South Carolina game and the previous game before that we had a great chance of winning but it is frustrating. We are happy for our players for their win against LSU, and now we have to turn around and try to do it again." — MSU coach Ben Howland on snapping the seven-game losing streak.
NEXT UP
With a win, MSU plays at Alabama at approximately 2:30 p.m. Thursday.
- BULLDOG BITES
- Quinndary Weatherspoon was named 2nd team All-SEC, while Lamar Peters was named to the All-Freshman team.
- Mississippi State is 29-53 all-time at the SEC Tournament with three titles (1996, 2002 & 2009).
- At Bridgestone Arena, MSU is 3-6 with one championship appearance (75-74 overtime loss to Kentucky in 2010).
- In SEC Tournament openers, the Bulldogs are 17-39 all-time.
- Vanderbilt is MSU's most common foe in this event with 14 meetings. The most wins against any team is in the tournament is Vanderbilt (6), while the most losses are against Georgia (10).
- Against LSU, MSU is 3-2 and has won three in a row. The last meeting was the 2009 semifinals in Tampa, a 67-57 Bulldog win. The Tigers are also the only team MSU is above .500 against.
- The Bulldogs have lost three-straight games in the tournament and haven't lost four in row since dropping eight consecutive from 1986-93.
- The last time MSU opened tournament play with the same team it closed out the regular season with was in 2001 against South Carolina. MSU won the regular-season finale, 77-73. However, the Gamecocks won the tournament opener, 69-62.
- Against LSU, senior guard I.J. Ready had a career-high 13 assists, the 6th most in school history and the most by any SEC player this year.
- The win was MSU's 100th all-time against the Tigers.
- Quinndary Weatherspoon finished the regular season sixth in the SEC with his 16.6 scoring clip, the highest average since Ravern Johnson's 17.6 in 2011.
- Of all SEC freshman, Mario Kegler is 11th in scoring (10.3) and sixth in rebounding 5.6).
- MSU has now shot 50 percent or better from the floor eight times this year (6-2 in those games).
- The Bulldogs' 234 made 3-pointers are currently the seventh most in a single season. Last year, they made 225. This is the most since making 246 in 2011.
- MSU 's 15 wins this season are the most since having 21 in 2012.
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Players Mentioned
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