Postgame Notes: MSU-No. 8 Tennessee

TEAM NOTES

Mississippi State was handed an 87-53 defeat by No. 8 Tennessee during Tuesday's SEC road opener at Thompson-Boling Arena.
The Bulldogs faced back-to-back ranked opponents to start SEC play for the first time in program history.
The last time State faced consecutive ranked SEC foes was on 01/23/2021 and 01/26/2021, also against Alabama and Tennessee.
The Volunteers have won eight of the last nine in the series dating back to 2016-17. Tennessee has been ranked during all eight of those wins.
As a team, the Bulldogs connected on 21-of-53 from the floor (39.6 percent), 4-of-18 from three-point territory (22.2 percent) and 7-of-17 from the free throw line (41.2 percent).
Conversely, Tennessee was 36-of-52 on its shot attempts (69.2 percent), drained 12-of-21 of its triples (57.1 percent) and were 3-of-3 at the charity stripe (100 percent).

PLAYER NOTES

Tyler Stevenson

Led the Bulldogs with a season-high 15 points on 7-of-10 from the field.
The seven field goals made also was a season's best.
Amassed 14 of his 15 points during the second half.
Reached double figures for the second time this season and the 69th time in his career.
Made his second start in Maroon and White.

Tolu Smith

Totaled nine points, two rebounds and an assist.
Sits 12 points shy of reaching 1,000 career points.
Started 64 of 65 career outings at Mississippi State.
Only the fourth time over his last 21 outings where he limited to single digit points.

D.J. Jeffries

Tallied five points, two rebounds and two steals.
Pulled to within 85 points from reaching 1,000 in his career
Started in 45 of 48 career games at State.
Collected multiple steals in four games in 2022-23 and for the 20th time in his career.

Eric Reed Jr.

Dashawn Davis

Equaled his season-high with six assists
Registered 5+ assists in two games in 2022-23 and 21 times over his career.
Connected for at least one three-pointer in 10 of his 11 appearances this season.

Bench

Kimani Hamilton was State's top scorer off the bench with a career-high nine points.
Knocked down 3-of-4 from the field highlighted by a pair of three-pointers.
The first time that Hamilton has drained multiple three's.
Cameron Matthews secured multiple steals for the fourth time over the last five games.
Captured eight outings in 2022-23 and 27 career games with 2+ steals.
KeShawn Murphy picked up four points and two assists.
Sank at least one trey in three consecutive games and four of his last five outings.

Mississippi State University Athletics