Mississippi State basketball: No. 17 Bulldogs vs. Wright State preview

The No. 17 Mississippi State basketball team will be busy in Jackson, Mississippi tonight. The Bulldogs are headed to the state capital to face the Wright State Raiders.

Ben Howland and his No. 17 Mississippi State basketball team are getting close to finishing the non-conference stretch of the Bulldogs’ schedule. At 6:00 p.m. tonight the Mississippi State Bulldogs will play the Wright State Raiders in the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson, Mississippi.

The Raiders are 6-6 coming into tonight’s game. They’re far from being a dominant team, but they could still theoretically give the Mississippi State basketball team some trouble if the Bulldogs aren’t focused tonight.

Entering tonight’s match up, Wright State is scoring an average of 73.8 points per game while giving up 68.4 points per game. Mississippi State is unsurprisingly better in both of those categories. The Bulldogs are averaging 79.3 points per game and holding teams to 65.7 points per game.

MSU is a bit better on the boards as well. Mississippi State gets 36.6 rebounds a game while Wright State pulls down 35.3 rebounds per game.

It would not be surprising at all to see the Mississippi State Bulldogs take control of this game early, outwork the Raiders, and run away with this match up.

And really, that’s exactly what MSU needs to do tonight.

When the Bulldogs last took the court, they let Wofford torch them from three-point range all evening. Mississippi State came back and won in impressive fashion, but the Bulldogs could have certainly controlled that game by sheer talent and defensive pressure alone.

That didn’t happen until late in the second half when MSU built a solid double digit lead over the Terriers.

Tonight, it would be encouraging to see the No. 17 Mississippi State basketball team play as the 17th best team in the country. It would be great to see the Bulldogs come out and win big in a neutral site match up right before Christmas.