Tennessee basketball heads to Starkville on Wednesday to face Mississippi State in its first conference road game of the season.
The Vols are coming off a dominant start to SEC play when they throttled then-No. 22 Ole Miss at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center. Mississippi State is coming off a SEC opening loss at a South Carolina and are hungry for a win to bolster its NCAA Tournament chances.
Here’s everything to know about the matchup.
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How to Watch – No. 5 Tennessee (11-3, 1-0 SEC) at Mississippi State (11-3, 0-1 SEC)
- Start Time: 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT
- Location: Humphrey Coliseum
- TV: SEC Network. PxP: Mike Morgan. CC: Mark Wise.
- Online Streaming: Watch ESPN
- Radio (Knoxville): The Vol Network/The Vol Network App
Betting Lines
- Tennessee -2 Mississippi State
- Over/under: 138.5
- Tennessee -3 Mississippi State
- Over/under: 139
What AC Gregg Polisnky Said About Mississippi State
On the importance of Tobe Awaka against a big Mississippi State front court
“It’s huge. I mean, no pun intended. We’re getting ready to play the transfer they have in Jimmy Bell who is 280 (pounds), Tolu Smith welcome back, right? So he’s back, this will be his third game. They’re a big, strong, physical group. Cam Matthews is an elite athlete, incredible body type. Same with DJ Jeffries. He’s big. So having like Tobe in this game makes you feel a little better, but I think it’s not just going to be Tobe, it is going to be a gang rebounding type of effort. And if we don’t do that with a lot of degree of physicality, we’re going to have a hard time.”
On potentially using the two-big lineup against Mississippi State
“I think that’s something that coach considers every game. I think he looks at how we’re playing, the flow of the game, the personnel of the other team. Not just defensively or offensively, but how it all comes together. Can we do it? Bottom line, whenever you, with lineups, you always are looking at advantage-disadvantage, if that makes sense, with how you’re going to play two bigs.”
On Mississippi State uncharacteristically struggling on the glass against South Carolina
“I think that they’re going to be— the way Coach (Chris) Jans coaches and I have a lot of respect for what they do, what he got done in his first year and what he’s doing now in his second year. You got to remember this record was largely— this resume was largely built without Tolu (Smith). Now having him back, starting three fifth-year players, two seniors, having the depth. I think we are going to be in for our most physical battle of the year and I’m not sure it’s going to be close, like in terms of what we’ve seen so far. Tarleton State was actually very physical. The SEC, Ole Miss gave us some of that, but I think in terms of position by position, Mississippi State will be the biggest challenge of the year.”
Probable Starters
Tennessee (via UT Game Notes)
Mississippi State (based on last game)
