The Mississippi State Bulldogs and the Ole Miss Rebels meet in college basketball action from the Black Pavilion at Ole Miss on Saturday night.
The Mississippi State Bulldogs will be looking to build on their four-game win streak after an 81-68 win over Arkansas last time out. Iverson Molinar leads the Bulldogs in scoring and assists with 16.8 PPG and 4.5 APG while Shakeel Moore has 11 PPG with 2.2 APG. Garrison Brooks has 10.9 PPG with a team-high 6.8 RPG to lead the Bulldogs on the glass and D.J. Jeffries has 10.8 PPG with 5.2 RPG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Mississippi State so far this season. As a team, Mississippi State is averaging 74.7 PPG on 47.6% shooting from the field, 35.6% from three and 74.3% from the foul line while allowing 61.9 PPG on 41% shooting from the field and 33.3% from three this season.
The Ole Miss Rebels will try to bounce back from back-to-back losses after a 66-60 OT loss to Tennessee in their last game. Jarkel Joiner leads the Rebels in scoring with 14.8 PPG while also adding 3 APG while Daeshun Ruffin has 11 PPG. Nysier Brooks has 8.7 PPG with a team-high 7.9 RPG to lead Ole Miss on the glass while Austin Crowley has a team-high 3.1 APG as well this season. As a team, Ole Miss is averaging 69.6 PPG on 42.9% shooting from the field, 31.9% from three and 69% from the foul line while allowing 63.6 PPG on 40.9% shooting from the field and 29.2% from three this season.
Mississippi State is 25-10 ATS in their last 35 Saturday games and 2-5 ATS in their last 7 road games against a team with a winning home record while the under is 5-2 in their last 7 games against a team with a winning percentage above .600. The under is 8-2 in Ole Miss’ last 10 games overall and 6-2 in Ole Miss’ last 8 home games.
These rivalry games can be interesting and a lot of times, you can probably just throw records out the window and all that jazz. However, the Mississippi State Bulldogs, records aside, are the better team here and are the more talented team from top to bottom. I think Ben Howland’s group could be a team to watch in the coming weeks and while Ole Miss has their solid guys as well, I think I like the Bulldogs just a bit better. Give me Mississippi State laying the points here.