MSU Looks For Redemption Against LSU In SECT

Thursday, March 8

St. Louis, Mo.

6:00 PM

Mississippi State

LSU

MSU plays LSU on Thursday in the second round of the SEC Tournament in St. Louis.

MSU Looks For Redemption Against LSU In SECT

March 07, 2018 | Men's Basketball

MSU Game Notes LSU Game Notes SEC Notes Watch On SEC Network Live Stats Ben Howland Press Conference

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Now, the focus is postseason.

After wrapping up the regular season Saturday at LSU, Mississippi State faces the Tigers again Thursday, this time at the SEC Tournament in St. Louis.

Tip at Scottrade Arena is set for 6 p.m. CT, with the game televised on the SEC Network. Tom Hart, Jimmy Dykes and Molly McGrath will handle the broadcast, while Neil Price and Richard Williams will have the call on the MSU radio network.

The Bulldogs have won the last four meetings against the Tigers in the SEC Tournament, including last year's tilt, 79-52.

Thursday's winner faces co-SEC champion Tennessee at 6 p.m. on Friday.

LAST TIME OUT
Mississippi State fell to LSU, 78-57. Lamar Peters led the Bulldogs with 17 points.

LSU defeated Mississippi State on senior night, 78-57. Aaron Epps and Brandon Sampson led the Tigers with 16 points each.

RECORDS
Mississippi State, 21-10, 9-9; LSU, 17-13, 8-10.

THE SERIES
LSU leads, 110-101.

COACHES
Ben Howland enters his third year at MSU and 22^nd overall. As head coach in four different stops, he is 452-249 with a 51-43 mark with the Bulldogs.

Will Wade is in his first year at LSU and is 17-13. In five years overall, he's 108-58.

QUOTABLE
"They're a good team and played well against us on Saturday. We are both fresh in each other's minds. This happened last year with the same team. I don't know how often that happens. Both teams have prepared for each other, so there won't be a lot of secrets." — MSU coach Ben Howland on playing LSU in back-to-back games.

BULLDOG BITES

Quinndary Weatherspoon was named 2nd team All-SEC on Tuesday, while Nick Weatherspoon was named to the All-Freshman team.
Monday, Quinndary Weatherspoon won the Howell Trophy, the sixth time an MSU player has won.
Mississippi State is 30-54 all-time at the SEC Tournament with three titles (1996, 2002 and 2009).
In SEC Tournament openers, the Bulldogs are 18-39 all-time.
Vanderbilt is MSU's most common foe with 14 meetings. The most wins against any team in the tournament is Vanderbilt (6), while the most losses are against Georgia (10).
Against LSU, the Bulldogs are 4-2 and have won four in a row. The last meeting was last year, 79-52 in Nashville.
For the second-straight year, MSU and LSU have closed the regular season only to meet again in their SEC Tournament opener. This year, though, it's in the second round.
Mississippi State earned its first tournament-bye since the league expanded in 2013.
The MSU-LSU series (211 games) is the fourth-most played in the SEC.
For the first time with Ben Howland at the helm, MSU has lost back-to-back games by 20-plus points.
Mississippi State now has 18 20-plus win seasons in school history.
MSU (4th, .466) and LSU (2nd, .476) are two of the best shooting teams in the SEC.
The Bulldogs are seeking 22 wins for the first time since going 24-12 in 2010.
Nick Weatherspoon is second in the SEC with 19 charges taken. Alabama's Herbert Jones has 20.
Quinndary Weatherspoon has 1,305 points for his career, now tied for the 19th most in school history with Rich Knarr and two shy of tying Tang Hamilton at No. 18.
Aric Holman has 125-career blocked shots, now the 7th most in school history.
Abdul Ado has a team-high 59 blocked shots, the third most by a freshman in school history.
MSU is 15th nationally with its 5.2 blocks, while Abdul Ado is tied 47th in the country at 1.97.
Nick Weatherspoon's 345 points are the eighth most by an MSU freshman.
MSU is also 58th in the nation in field goal defense at 41.8 percent and 60th in points allowed (67.8).
The Bulldogs have held 11 of its 18 SEC foes below their scoring average and 23 of 31 overall.