Tennessee basketball: Vols look to end Mississippi State’s Championship run

Tennessee basketball takes the court on Friday night in the Quarterfinals of the 2019 SEC Tournament. Here is the preview of the game.

The No.3 seed Tennessee basketball team (27-4, 15-3 SEC) takes the court on Friday night in the Quarterfinals against the Mississippi State Bulldogs. State is coming off an impressive 80-54 win over Texas A&M on Thursday night where they shot 53.4 percent from the field and 44 percent from the three-point line.

The game will mark the second year in a row that the Vols and Bulldogs face off in the SEC Tournament. Tennessee beat Mississippi State by 22 points in the second to last game of the regular season. But, the Bulldogs hung tough by only losing by three points in the tourney. Without giving away my prediction, I look for much of the same this season.

Before we preview both teams and give our prediction, here is the information you need for Friday nights game.

No.6 Mississippi State vs. No.3 Tennessee Volunteers 

When: Friday, March 15 at 9:30 p.m. E.T.
Where: Bridgestone Arena; Nashville, Tennessee
TV: SEC Network
Live Stream: WatchESPN
Line: Tennessee -5.5
Over/Under: 145

VIEW OF THE VOLS

Record: 27-4 (15-3 SEC)
Last 5: 2-3
Last 10: 7-3

The Vols are 2-3 in their last five games with losses to Auburn and LSU on the road by a combined six points. Furthermore, Tennessee has dropped three of their four losses on the season in the past month.

Grant Williams, Admiral Schofield, and Jordan Bone are all coming off a week that resulted in SEC honors from the coaches around the league. Williams received back-to-back SEC Player of the Year honors, which was the first time a player accomplished that milestone since the early 1990s. Schofield was selected to the All-SEC First Team, while Bone made the Second Team.

The Vols have to be more focused on getting the ball inside and running the offensive through Williams. Tennessee took 28 three-point shots against Auburn on Saturday. What is so crazy about that stat is they only took 33 shots from inside the arc. That can’t happen.

VIEW OF THE BULLDOGS

Record: 23-9 (10-8 SEC)
Last 5: 2-3
Last 10: 7-3

As we mentioned above, the Bulldogs are rolling. They’ve won seven of their last ten games with their only losses coming to Tennessee, Auburn, and Kentucky. They did lose to the Vols by 17 points but only dropped the Auburn and Kentucky games by a combined eight points. In fact, they lost six of their eight conference games by a combined 26 points.

The Bulldogs can shoot the three-point ball around 37.8 percent on the season which puts them just outside the top-30 nationally. And, they hold quite an effective field goal percentage of 54.6.

For Mississippi State to pull the upset Quinndary Weatherspoon has to play to his All-SEC level. In the last matchup against Tennessee, Weatherspoon only scored seven points which was the lowest scoring output of the season. But, once he gets going he is hard to stop. Weatherspoon holds a 44.9 percentage from the three-point line which is the best in conference play.

PREDICTION

I never thought Tennessee getting the No.3 seed was a good thing. Sure, playing Ole Miss/Alabama again didn’t sound ideal but neither did Mississippi State. The Bulldogs are a legit team and can cause Tennessee some problems. Don’t look for a 20 point beatdown, this game will be closer than you will think. Tennessee 78 Mississippi State 71.