Mississippi State Basketball: How can the Bulldogs prepare for Tennessee?

The Mississippi State basketball team will face off against the Tennessee Volunteers on Tuesday, January 3rd in Knoxville, Tennessee at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Here are three things that I think the Mississippi State Bulldogs will be working on in preparation for the Tennessee Volunteers.

Mississippi State Basketball – Free Throws

The Mississippi State basketball team was 18/36 from the charity stripe vs. the Alabama Crimson Tide on Wednesday, December 28th. That was by far the poorest statistic the Bulldogs have had this 2022-2023 college basketball season. If a team shoots 36 free throws, they expect to win the game.

The Mississippi State Bulldogs win games in the paint with their big man, Tolu Smith. Smith has proven to be the best player offensively for the Bulldogs this season, but Wednesday night was not Smith’s best night. Chris Jans and the Bulldogs need Tolu Smith to win the paint and make free throws to win ball games down the stretch of SEC basketball.

Mississippi State Basketball – Transition Buckets

The Mississippi State Bulldogs build their game around tough defense. The Alabama Crimson Tide exposed the Bulldogs a little bit in the second half on Wednesday night, but many of Alabama’s buckets were due to Mississippi State’s mistakes. Many times, when the Bulldogs would fast break vs. the Tide, they would come away with no points, essentially ending in a turnover or missed easy basket. If the Bulldogs want to win the big games, they must score in transition.

Mississippi State Basketball – The Hype

I truly believe this Mississippi State basketball team can compete with anyone in the country. There are just a few key pieces to the puzzle that need to be put together. One of those pieces is not letting the hype of a big game affect how they play basketball. The Humphrey Coliseum was nearly full Wednesday night vs. Alabama, and it seemed as if some of the Bulldog players did not know how to handle it.