Looking for a statement victory to get them off of the NCAA Tournament Bubble, Mississippi State had a big opportunity on their home court against the 19th ranked Tennessee Volunteers, but would fall short losing 72-63.
The Bulldogs got off to a cold start, falling behind 14-2 in the first four minutes, but they would battle their way back in the first half behind 9 points from D.J. Jeffries and 8 from Iverson Molinar to make it 35-33 Tennessee lead going into the break. The 2nd half was a really back and forth game, but Tennessee would pull away at the end making 8 of their last 9 field goal attempts, and outscored State 11-2 in the final 4 minutes.
Kennedy Chandler and the Tennessee defense did a good job defending Iverson Molinar tonight, while Molinar did score an efficient 16 points on 50% shooting, they were able to hold him to only 8 field goal attempts, well below his 13 field goal attempts per game, and were also able to force him to commit 6 turnovers. D.J. Jeffries and Garrison Brooks both had solid offensive nights scoring 13 and 15 respectively, but they couldn’t get much of a contribution out of anyone else. State will need a better showing from Shakeel Moore going forward, who has failed to score in double digits in each of his last 5 games.
Where Mississippi State has struggled at times this season has been at the free throw line, and it was costly again tonight as they shot 14/23 (60.8%), ironically the same percentage they hit from in their overtime loss to Kentucky two weeks ago. On top of their free throw woes, the Bulldogs also committed 16 turnovers, but credit is due to Tennessee’s pesky guards in Kennedy Chandler and Zakai Zeigler as the two freshmen combined for 10 steals tonight.
The best player on the floor tonight was Tennessee’s Kennedy Chandler, the freshman point guard from Memphis led the Volunteers with 18 points and 5 rebounds, and also dishing out 3 assists. He showed why he is being projected in the first round of this upcoming NBA Draft with his quick first step getting to the basket and a solid pull up jump shot, as well as playing hard on the defensive end of the floor. Guards Josiah-Jordan James and Santiago Vescovi also came up big for the Vols, as James scored 18 and Vescovi scored 11 with 7 assists, and they each shot 3/6 from 3-point range.
The Bulldogs missed a golden opportunity to take down a top 25 opponent, but they will have the chance at quadrant 1 victories in their next 2 games as they’ll take on LSU on Saturday and Alabama next Wednesday, both on the road, but losses in both games would make it very difficult to reach the NCAA Tournament.
