SEC Tournament Preview: Alabama vs. Mississippi State

SEC Tournament: Round Two

(5) Alabama vs. (12) Mississippi State

3:00 EST

The second game of the SEC Tournament on Thursday is between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Alabama (17-13, 10-8 in SEC) is a case of good news, bad news. The bad news: Alabama is last in the SEC in scoring offense, averaging 68.4 points per game. The good news: The Crimson Tide are first the SEC in scoring defense in the SEC, allowing 64.7 points per game.

They play lockdown defense and dictate the pace of the game, but they’re not playing their best basketball at the moment. They come into the tournament after losing three of the final four games of the regular season.

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Mississippi State (16-15, 6-12 in SEC) wants to get up and down a little bit more. The Bulldogs are eighth in the SEC, averaging 72.9 points per game and they’re attempting 22.3 three-pointers per game.

Alabama won each of the two matchups against Mississippi State this season.

In the first game, Alabama won in Starkville 68-58. They held Mississippi State to 4-for-21 from threes and held Quinndary Weatherspoon (16.6 ppg) to just 7 points on 2-for-11 shooting.

The second game, Alabama won in Tuscaloosa 71-62. Once again the Bulldogs struggled from downtown, and this time they turned the ball over 18 times. Braxton Key led the Tide with 19 points.

The one thing Mississippi State has going for them is that they already have one game under their belt in Nashville and will be playing with nothing to lose. Meanwhile, Alabama is still vying for a spot in the NCAA Tournament. It will be interesting to see who comes ready to play.

Alabama Crimson Tide: By the Numbers

RPI: 88
SOS: 84
Record vs. RPI Top 50: 3-6

Mississippi State Bulldogs: By the Numbers

RPI: 144
SOS: 85
Record vs. RPI Top 50: 1-6

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