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Tennessee basketball: Vols will have their hands full with Mississippi State

By Billy Williford

ST LOUIS, MO - MARCH 09: Quinndary Weatherspoon #11 of the Mississippi Bulldogs shoots the ball against the Tennessee Volunteers during the quarterfinals round of the 2018 SEC Basketball Tournament at Scottrade Center on March 9, 2018 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
ST LOUIS, MO - MARCH 09: Quinndary Weatherspoon #11 of the Mississippi Bulldogs shoots the ball against the Tennessee Volunteers during the quarterfinals round of the 2018 SEC Basketball Tournament at Scottrade Center on March 9, 2018 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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The Tennessee basketball takes the court Friday night against the Mississippi State Bulldogs, and it won’t be easy. The Vols will have their hands full.

It was nearly Friday morning before the Tennessee basketball team learned who their first game opponent was going to be. After a dominating performance, the Mississippi State Bulldogs advance to take on the No.3 seed Vols on Friday night around 9:30 EST.

After the win over the Vanderbilt Commodores, Texas A&M looked poised to give Mississippi State a game. But, from the opening tip, you knew who the Vols were going to play.

The Bulldogs won each part of the game. They outrebounded the Aggies 38-24 and had more assists (17-9) and steals (8-7). Mississippi State even shot better from the field, three-point line, and free throw line. Total domination.

Coming into the tournament a lot of Tennessee fans were happy about the three seed. Now, I don’t know if Volnation was just trying to find the positive in not winning the SEC or they really thought playing Mississippi State would be easier than Alabama or Ole Miss. Either way, the game is set for Friday night.

Ben Howland and the Bulldogs are winners of seven of their last nine games with the only losses coming to Auburn and Tennessee.

Don’t let the 17 point loss to the Vols on March 5th make your decision about the game. That wasn’t the Mississippi State team that played well all season. They lost six of their eight SEC losses by five points or less. And, you can go ahead and bet on the fact that their leader, Quinndary Weatherspoon, is going to score more than seven points as he did in Knoxville.

Weatherspoon scored ten points just three times this season against McNeese State, Florida, and Tennessee.

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Remember this exact scenario played out last season. Tennessee and Mississippi State met in the second to last game of the regular season with the Vols winning 76-54. The two teams met on Friday in the SEC Tournament and Tennessee was lucky to escape with a three point win.

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