Mississippi State looks like a safe bet for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid. But two losses last week to ranked opponents mean the Bulldogs could use one more win to stop any thoughts of sliding back on the bubble.
The Bulldogs have a chance to get that victory on Wednesday night with a trip to College Station, Texas, for a Southeastern Conference matchup with Texas A&M.
Mississippi State (19-10, 8-8 SEC) is coming off Saturday’s 78-63 loss at then-No. 11 Auburn in which it trailed for all but 21 seconds — including a 31-12 first-half deficit — before cobbling together a response.
“We were playing uphill,” Bulldogs coach Chris Jans said. “It just never really felt like we were on solid footing all night long.”
Perhaps the only player who stood on equal ground with the Tigers was freshman guard Josh Hubbard, who drained six of his 11 3-point attempts and scored a game-high 23 points. Hubbard, who has scored 89 points in the past three games, is averaging 16.2 per game, just below leading scorer Tolu Smith III (16.9 points per game).
Meanwhile, the Aggies (16-13, 7-9) snapped a five-game losing streak on Saturday night with a 70-56 SEC win at Georgia behind Tyrece Radford’s 20-point, 10-rebound double-double. Radford is the Aggies’ second-leading scorer (15.5 ppg) behind Wade Taylor IV (18.2).
Against Georgia, Texas A&M dominated the boards 50-37, making up for 24-of-67 shooting from the field (35.8 percent). It also limited the hosts to 24.4 percent shooting (10 of 41) on 3-point attempts.
But Texas A&M appears to have played itself off the NCAA Tournament bubble with its recent skid. It may have to win the SEC tournament next week in Nashville to earn a bid, a disappointment for a team expected to contend for a league title.
“It has been a long 2 1/2 weeks,” Aggies coach Buzz Williams said. “We are thankful that we kept hope alive. … For us to be able to go on the road and have that same fight after losing five in a row, I am grateful.”
This is the teams’ only meeting of the regular season.
–Field Level Media