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Mississippi State basketball: No. 6 Bulldogs head to Charlottesville to face Virginia

By Ethan Lee

COLUMBUS, OH - MARCH 30: Jazzmun Holmes #10 and Victoria Vivians #35 of the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs celebrate with their team after defeating the Louisville Cardinals in the semifinals of the 2018 NCAA Women's Final Four at Nationwide Arena on March 30, 2018 in Columbus, Ohio. The Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs defeated the Louisville Cardinals 73-63. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - MARCH 30: Jazzmun Holmes #10 and Victoria Vivians #35 of the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs celebrate with their team after defeating the Louisville Cardinals in the semifinals of the 2018 NCAA Women's Final Four at Nationwide Arena on March 30, 2018 in Columbus, Ohio. The Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs defeated the Louisville Cardinals 73-63. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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Vic Schaefer and the No. 6 Mississippi State basketball team take to the road to take on the Virginia Cavaliers this evening.

The 2018-2019 Mississippi State basketball season is off to a great start so far. When the No. 6 Bulldogs hosted Southeast Missouri State on Tuesday, the Mississippi State basketball team had no issues coming away with a solid and dominant win at home.

Now, the Bulldogs get to play their second game of the season tonight, which happens to be their first game of the year that is on the road.

Beating SEMO was great for Schaefer’s team. Winning at home is important for Mississippi State. But it’s easy to defend your home turf, especially when thousands of fans come out to support you. The Bulldogs need to learn to win on the road.

That may not be such an easy task, but it’s something that is crucial for this team to win the SEC and compete for a national title.

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Vic Schaefer is being challenged with pulling this team together after losing four starters from last season. The level of experience that the 2017-2018 Mississippi State basketball team had helped Schaefer overcome plenty of difficult road challenges. This year’s team may just be more talented, but the level of turnover from last year could potentially be alarming.

That said, if anyone can get this group to come together and play at a high level, it’s Vic Schaefer. Many of the players on this team have been around the program for a while and the transfers that did come in came to Starkville, Mississippi to play for Schaefer.

While the Bulldogs did lose a lot of experience and cohesiveness from last year, there’s no reason for this team to not develop bonds of similar strength this season. The Bulldogs have a high ceiling and tons of potential.

Tonight, they must show it against Virginia.

The Cavaliers were a decent team last season and made it into the NCAA Tournament, where they ultimately fell to the South Carolina Gamecocks, losing only by 10 points. MSU should expect a tough road test tonight.

dark. Next. Andra Espinoza-Hunter is able to play right now after her NCAA appeal!

The Bulldogs should be able to win this game and, if we’re being honest, the Mississippi State basketball team should be able to come away with a double digit win. But, this is MSU’s first road test and it’ll be interesting to see how Schaefer’s team does this evening.

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