SEC Basketball Preview/Prediction: Mississippi State at Kentucky

Mississippi State visits Kentucky on Tuesday in a key SEC basketball matchup. Look inside for a preview of the game along with a prediction of the game’s final score.

By 14Powers Hoops

Stats | RPI | Players | Scouting Report | Prediction | Time/TV

Team Statistical Comparison

FG% 3PT% FT% ORB TRB AST STL BLK TO
Mississippi State 0.467 0.341 0.746 274 809 284 123 104 290
Mississippi State OPP 0.417 0.317 0.697 217 630 252 146 63 254
Kentucky 0.460 0.326 0.777 207 797 299 106 108 273
Kentucky OPP 0.387 0.288 0.676 221 683 229 108 64 259

Stats | RPI | Players | Scouting Report | Prediction | Time/TV

Statistical Leaders

Mississippi State Scoring Leaders

PLAYER TEAM PPG FGM FTM 3PTM
PLAYER TEAM PPG FGM FTM 3PTM
Reggie Perry Mississippi State 17.2 129 87 17
Tyson Carter Mississippi State 13.3 88 66 37
Robert Woodard II Mississippi State 11.9 97 32 23
D.J. Stewart Jr. Mississippi State 8.3 65 27 18
Iverson Molinar Mississippi State 7.0 52 31 12
Abdul Ado Mississippi State 5.6 44 29 0
KeyShawn Feazell Mississippi State 1.7 11 5 4
Prince Oduro Mississippi State 1.5 7 11 0

Mississippi State Rebounding Leaders

PLAYER TEAM OR DR TR RPG
PLAYER TEAM OR DR TR RPG
Reggie Perry Mississippi State 68 143 211 10.0
Robert Woodard II Mississippi State 50 99 149 7.1
Abdul Ado Mississippi State 74 69 143 6.8
Tyson Carter Mississippi State 4 49 53 2.5
D.J. Stewart Jr. Mississippi State 6 41 47 2.2
KeyShawn Feazell Mississippi State 10 31 41 2.3
Nick Weatherspoon Mississippi State 6 35 41 3.7
Iverson Molinar Mississippi State 5 17 22 1.0
Prince Oduro Mississippi State 6 12 18 1.1
Quinten Post Mississippi State 2 8 10 1.4
Devin Butts Mississippi State 2 0 2 0.3
Elias King Mississippi State 0 2 2 0.3
Mitchell Storm Mississippi State 1 1 2 0.7

Kentucky Scoring Leaders

PLAYER TEAM PPG FGM FTM 3PTM
PLAYER TEAM PPG FGM FTM 3PTM
Immanuel Quickley Kentucky 14.3 83 84 36
Nick Richards Kentucky 14.0 114 66 0
Tyrese Maxey Kentucky 13.6 94 74 24
Ashton Hagans Kentucky 12.8 80 95 13
EJ Montgomery Kentucky 6.7 52 15 1
Nate Sestina Kentucky 6.2 37 22 16
Keion Brooks Jr. Kentucky 5.0 44 15 3
Kahlil Whitney Kentucky 3.3 23 10 4
Johnny Juzang Kentucky 2.4 16 6 5

Kentucky Rebounding Leaders

PLAYER TEAM OR DR TR RPG
PLAYER TEAM OR DR TR RPG
Nick Richards Kentucky 60 112 172 8.2
EJ Montgomery Kentucky 27 68 95 5.3
Tyrese Maxey Kentucky 7 80 87 4.1
Immanuel Quickley Kentucky 15 71 86 4.3
Ashton Hagans Kentucky 5 80 85 4.0
Nate Sestina Kentucky 26 55 81 4.5
Keion Brooks Jr. Kentucky 22 45 67 3.2
Johnny Juzang Kentucky 8 31 39 2.2
Kahlil Whitney Kentucky 14 17 31 1.7

Stats | RPI | Players | Scouting Report | Prediction | Time/TV

Rupp Arena
Rupp Arena

NCAA RPI

Mississippi State: 38

Kentucky: 27

Mississippi State Roster

No. Name Pos. HT WT Class City-State
0 Nick Weatherspoon G 6′-2″ 185 JR Canton, MS
1 Reggie Perry F 6′-10″ 250 SO Thomasville, GA
2 Elias King F 6′-8″ 205 FR Suwanee, GA
3 D.J. Stewart Jr. G 6′-6″ 200 FR Grace, MS
4 Devin Butts G 6′-5″ 180 FR Macon, GA
5 Iverson Molinar G 6′-3″ 195 FR Marietta, GA
10 Tate Clayton G 6′-2″ 170 JR Tupelo, MS
12 Robert Woodard II G 6′-7″ 230 SO Columbus, MS
13 Reggie Miller G 6′-5″ 185 SR Saltillo, MS
15 Prince Oduro F 6′-8″ 250 SO Toronto, ON
20 Mitch Storm F 6′-7″ 200 SR Madison, MS
21 Justin Rumph G 6′-5″ 215 JR Birmingham, AL
22 KeyShawn Feazell F 6′-8″ 225 JR Newhebron, MS
23 Tyson Carter G 6′-4″ 175 SR Starkville, MS
24 Abdul Ado F 6′-11″ 255 JR Lagos, Nigeria
25 Isaac Stansbury G 6′-1″ 160 FR Bowling Green, KY
30 Andrew Junkin F 6′-11″ 240 FR New Hope, MS
32 Quinten Post F 7′-0″ 225 FR Amsterdam, The Netherlands
35 Tolu Smith F 6′-10″ 240 SO Bay Saint Louis, MS
45 E.J. Datcher C 6′-10″ 255 SR Harpersville, AL

Kentucky Roster

No. Name Pos. HT WT Class City-State
0 Ashton Hagans G 6′-3″ 198 SO Cartersville, GA
1 Nate Sestina F 6′-9″ 234 SR Emporium, PA
2 Kahlil Whitney F 6′-6″ 210 FR Chicago, IL
3 Tyrese Maxey G 6′-3″ 198 FR Garland, TX
4 Nick Richards F 6′-11″ 247 JR Kingston, Jamaica
5 Immanuel Quickley G 6′-3″ 188 SO Havre De Grace, MD
10 Johnny Juzang G 6′-6″ 214 FR Los Angeles, CA
11 Dontaie Allen G 6′-6″ 200 FR Falmouth, KY
12 Keion Brooks Jr. F 6′-7″ 205 FR Fort Wayne, IN
13 Riley Welch G 6′-0″ 185 JR Littleton, CO
14 Brennan Canada F 6′-6″ 198 FR Mount Sterling, KY
21 Zan Payne G 6′-4″ 235 FR Lexington, KY
23 EJ Montgomery F 6′-10″ 228 SO Fort Pierce, FL
33 Ben Jordan F 6′-9″ 250 SO Olive Hill, KY

Stats | RPI | Players | Scouting Report | Prediction | Time/TV

Scouting Report


Mississippi State (14-7, 5-3 SEC) defeated Tennessee 86-73 on Saturday in Starkville. In the first half the lead changed several times before the Vols headed to halftime up 34-28. The Vols maintained their lead in the second half until the 16:17 mark when State took the lead on a pair of Reggie Perry made free throws. Tennessee would never lead again and the Bulldogs would lead by as much as 17 in the final minutes. Perry led the Bulldogs with 24 points. He also had 11 rebounds. Uros Plavsic and Santiago Vescovi co-led the Vols with 16 points. This game was won in the paint with the Bulldogs outscoring the Vols 32-20 inside.

Forward Reggie Perry leads in Bulldogs in both scoring (17.2 ppg) and rebounding (10.0 rpg). Two other players, Tyson Carter (13.3 ppg) and Robert Woodard II (11.9 ppg) also average in double figures. Guard Nick Weatherspoon earlier in the season returned to the team after a long suspension and is averaging 12.2 points in the 11 games he’s played in so far this season. Mississippi State is second in the SEC in 3-point shooting accuracy (33.8%) but the Dogs have only made 334 attempts. That number is among the fewest in the conference. The Bulldogs are first in the SEC in rebounding margin (+8.4). MSU is also fourth in the SEC in blocked shots (5.1 bpg).

Kentucky (16-5, 6-2 SEC) fell to Auburn 75-66 on Saturday at Auburn. This was a hard fought game that saw 17 lead changes and five ties. Kentucky led most of the first half by as much as seven before going to halftime up just 35-34. In the second half the score stayed close. The Wildcats last held the lead at 60-59 with 4:11 to play. The nine point difference in the final score was Auburn’s biggest lead of the game. Samir Doughty led the Tigers with 23 points. Doughty made 14 of his points at the free throw line. Immanuel Quickley paced UK with 23 points. Tyrese Maxey had 22 for the Cats. Auburn won this one at the free throw line hitting 33 of 44 while Kentucky also shot well at the line, 20 of 24, but had 20 less attempts.

UK is averaging 75.4 points per game so far this season and allows 65.0 points a contest. Immanuel Quickley leads the Cats in scoring (14.0 ppg). Quickley’s shooting is second to none on the team. The other players who also average at least 12 points a game include Ashton Hagans, Nick Richards and Tyrese Maxey. Richards also leads the team in rebounding (8.2 rpg) Hagans is one of the best guards in the country both offensively and defensively. Kentucky as a team is shooting 46.2% (2nd SEC) from the field, 32.3% (5th SEC) from 3-point range and 77.4% (2nd SEC) from the line. The Cats are second in the league in 3-point shooting defense (28.9%) and third in the conference in field goal shooting defense (38.9%).

A visiting team is rarely ever favored to win in Rupp Arena. However, this Mississippi State team is dangerous and well coached. Kentucky should win though.

Mississippi State-Kentucky Prediction

Kentucky 74, Mississippi State 70


Tuesday‘s game tips off at 9:00 p.m. ET (8:00 p.m. CT). TV: ESPN.

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