Game 16: Vanderbilt Commodores at Mississippi State Bulldogs — Open Game Thread

Well, the Vanderbilt Commodores might have ended their six-game losing streak to open SEC play with a win over South Carolina two weeks ago. But in two games since then, it’s been frankly more of the same, with a 73-70 loss at Georgia last Saturday followed by a 73-67 loss to Auburn on Tuesday night. The frustrating part of that Auburn loss was that Vanderbilt actually held Auburn under a point per possession, and yet couldn’t come up with a win thanks to the offense. What?

Anyway, today it’s a trip to beautiful Starkville, Mississippi, where the Mississippi State Bulldogs enter having gone 3-6 since the last time we saw them in Nashville on January 9. The Bulldogs have two big guns in D.J. Stewart (17.0 ppg) and Iverson Molinar (16.8 ppg), and a couple of solid bigs in Tolu Smith (13.1 ppg, 8.4 rpg) and Abdul Ado (1.8 bpg) and yet the end result is a team that’s 5-7 in the SEC.

Of course, Vanderbilt is careening toward its fourth consecutive Wednesday night appearance at the SEC Tournament. Huzzah! Have fun, expect to win.

Pregame Reading

vucommodores.com: Rematch with the Bulldogs

hailstate.com: Gameday: Five things to know about MSU-Vanderbilt

Hustler: Vanderbilt heads to Mississippi State for rematch against the Bulldogs

Vandy 247: Vanderbilt looking to adjust for rematch with Mississippi State

Gene’s Page: Mississippi State looks to right ship on Saturday vs. Vanderbilt

Cowbell Corner: MSU tries to earn season sweep over struggling Vanderbilt

Hustler: Press conference notes: Stackhouse talks close losses, trip to Starkville