SEC Basketball Preview/Prediction: Vanderbilt at Mississippi State

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Vanderbilt visits Mississippi State on Saturday 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

Team Statistical Comparison

	FG%	3PT%	FT%	ORB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TO
Vanderbilt	0.435	0.330	0.683	203	726	263	155	83	289
Vanderbilt OPP	0.462	0.344	0.723	216	792	285	123	65	309
Mississippi State	0.461	0.340	0.749	291	849	289	125	108	300
Mississippi State OPP	0.418	0.312	0.713	226	667	266	153	65	262

Statistical Leaders

Vanderbilt Scoring Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
Saben Lee	Vanderbilt	16.7	128	89	23
Scotty Pippen Jr.	Vanderbilt	11.3	71	87	20
Maxwell Evans	Vanderbilt	8.3	62	29	30
Dylan Disu	Vanderbilt	6.6	49	17	30
Jordan Wright	Vanderbilt	4.5	32	32	4
Ejike Obinna	Vanderbilt	3.4	29	14	0
Matthew Moyer	Vanderbilt	2.1	16	9	5

Vanderbilt Rebounding Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	OR	DR	TR	RPG
PLAYER	TEAM	OR	DR	TR	RPG
Dylan Disu	Vanderbilt	24	102	126	5.7
Ejike Obinna	Vanderbilt	34	52	86	4.1
Maxwell Evans	Vanderbilt	16	56	72	3.3
Saben Lee	Vanderbilt	10	60	70	3.2
Aaron Nesmith	Vanderbilt	11	57	68	4.9
Scotty Pippen Jr.	Vanderbilt	12	55	67	3.0
Clevon Brown	Vanderbilt	22	32	54	6.0
Matthew Moyer	Vanderbilt	10	39	49	2.2
Jordan Wright	Vanderbilt	17	30	47	2.1
Braelee Albert	Vanderbilt	11	5	16	1.6
Oton Jankovic	Vanderbilt	3	8	11	0.8
Jon Jossell	Vanderbilt	0	3	3	0.6
Isaiah Rice	Vanderbilt	1	0	1	0.1

Mississippi State Scoring Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
Reggie Perry	Mississippi State	17.1	133	93	17
Tyson Carter	Mississippi State	13.2	92	68	39
Robert Woodard II	Mississippi State	12.0	103	34	24
D.J. Stewart Jr.	Mississippi State	8.6	71	28	20
Iverson Molinar	Mississippi State	6.7	52	31	12
Abdul Ado	Mississippi State	5.6	47	30	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	70	149	219	10.0
Robert Woodard II	Mississippi State	55	101	156	7.1
Abdul Ado	Mississippi State	80	74	154	7.0
Tyson Carter	Mississippi State	4	55	59	2.7
D.J. Stewart Jr.	Mississippi State	7	41	48	2.2
Nick Weatherspoon	Mississippi State	7	38	45	3.8
KeyShawn Feazell	Mississippi State	10	31	41	2.3
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

NCAA RPI

Vanderbilt: 145

Mississippi State: 41

Vanderbilt Roster

No.	Name	Pos.	HT	WT	Class	City-State
0	Saben Lee	G	6′-2″	183	JR	Phoenix, AZ
1	Dylan Disu	F	6′-9″	220	FR	Pflugerville, TX
2	Scotty Pippen Jr.	G	6′-1″	170	FR	Los Angeles, CA
3	Maxwell Evans	G	6′-2″	190	JR	Houston, TX
4	Jordan Wright	G	6′-5″	226	FR	Baton Rouge, LA
5	D.J. Harvey	G	6′-6″	235	SO	Bowie, MD
10	Drew Weikert	G	6′-0″	170	SO	Nashville, TN
13	Matthew Moyer	F	6′-8″	229	JR	Gahanna, OH
14	Isaiah Rice	G	5′-11″	195	JR	Indianapolis, IN
15	Clevon Brown	F	6′-8″	232	SR	San Antonio, TX
20	Trace Arbuckle	G	6′-2″	170	JR	Carmel, IN
21	Jon Jossell	G	5′-9″	160	SR	Arcadia, OK
24	Aaron Nesmith	F	6′-6″	213	SO	Charleston, SC
42	Quentin Millora-Brown	F	6′-10″	229	FR	Lorton, VA
50	Ejike Obinna	F	6′-10″	243	SO	Enugu, Nigeria
55	Oton Jankovic	F	6′-10″	212	FR	Napa, CA

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

Scouting Report

Vanderbilt (9-13, 1-8 SEC) defeated LSU 99-90 on Wednesday in Nashville. In that game the surprising Commodores built as much as a 13 point lead in the first half before heading to halftime up 52-47. In the second stanza the Commodores maintained their lead until a Skylar Mays’ field goal put the Tigers on top 81-80 with 6:46 to play. The LSU lead was short lived, however, and Vandy stretched its lead to 10 points with under a minute left to play to seal the shocking victory over the Tigers. Saben Lee led the Commodores with 33 points while teammate Maxwell Evans tallied a career high 31 points. LSU’s Trendon Watford topped the Tigers with 26 points. Vanderbilt won this game from beyond the 3-point arc with 12 made 3-pointers to the Tigers’four.

Aaron Nesmith (23 ppg) is the Commodore’s and SEC’s leading scorer, however, he is out for the season with an injury. In his absence Saben Lee (16.7 ppg) has taken over that role. Freshman forward Dylan Disu leads Vandy in rebounding 5.7 rpg. For the season Vandy is shooting 43.5% from the field, 33.0% from 3-point range and 68.3% from the free throw line. Vandy is ninth in the SEC in scoring averaging 72.8 points a game. The Commodores are 13th in the SEC in scoring defense allowing 73.9 point per contest. Vandy is dead last in field goal percentage defense (46.2%) and also last in 3-point shooting defense (34.4%).

Mississippi State (14-8, 5-4 SEC) fell to Kentucky 80-72 on Tuesday night in Lexington. The Wildcats jumped out to an early 7-0 lead and then never lost that lead. The Cats led by as much as 10 in the first half and headed to halftime up 31-23. In the second half UK’s biggest lead was 14 points. Mississippi State pulled to within six points with 2:43 remaining in the game but that was the closest they would get. Nick Richards led the Wildcats with 27 points while Robert Woodard II and DJ Stewart Jr. co-led the Bulldogs with 15 points each. UK won this one at the free throw line hitting on 31 of 36 attempts while the Bulldogs made 17 of 21 free throws.

Forward Reggie Perry leads in Bulldogs in both scoring (17.1 ppg) and rebounding (10.0 rpg). Two other players, Tyson Carter (13.2 ppg) and Robert Woodard II (12.0 ppg) also average in double figures. Guard Nick Weatherspoon earlier in the season returned to the team after a long suspension and is averaging 11.9 points in the 12 games he’s played in so far this season. Mississippi State is fourth in the SEC in 3-point shooting accuracy 34.0%) but the Dogs have only made 362 attempts. That number is among the fewest in the conference. The Bulldogs are second in the SEC in rebounding margin (+8.3). MSU is also fourth in the SEC in blocked shots (4.9 bpg).

Vandy has improved a lot over the past few weeks. However, this State team is pretty darn good. The Bulldogs should win but if Vandy can beat LSU then anything can happen.

Vanderbilt-Mississippi State Prediction

Mississippi State 76, Vanderbilt 69

Saturday‘s game tips off at 8:30 p.m. ET. TV: SEC Network.