Tennessee vs Mississippi State: NCAAB Odds, Picks, Predictions (1/17/23)

Tennessee visits Mississippi State in an SEC clash. Tennessee is coming off a surprising loss to Kentucky at home, while Mississippi State has lost two games in a row, with the latest coming to Auburn on the road. This should be an interesting matchup because both teams need to rebound from a loss. Let’s take a look at the odds and make some picks and predictions for this game!

Tennessee vs. Mississippi State Odds

Tennessee is a 6.5-point road favorite against Mississippi State and is at -280 on the money line. The over/under is also at 122.5. Tennessee being favored here makes sense even though it’s a road game and they just lost because Mississippi State has stumbled more too and the Volunteers have been the better team too. The over/under also makes sense because both of these teams are very good defensively too. This spread should stay where it’s at before tip-off too.

Tennessee vs. Mississippi State Prediction & Pick

The pick: Tennessee -6.5

Tennessee is one of the best teams in college basketball this year. They’ve especially been good on the defensive side of the court. Santiago Vescovi has been great this year for the Volunteers and leads the team in scoring and steals. Olivier Nkamhoua is the second-leading scorer for the Vols and provides some good production as a stretch forward. Julian Phillips has become the x-factor for Tennessee as a former five-star recruit that was added and now leads the team in rebounds too. Zakai Ziegler is the starting point guard and even though he’s small, he’s proven how valuable he is and leads the team in assists.

As a team, they are one of the best defensive teams in college basketball. They’re second in points allowed at 54 and are in the top-15 in rebounding too. Offensively, the Volunteers are very good passing the ball with assists and are 2nd in college basketball in point differential with it being +20.3.

On the other side, Mississippi State has been decent this year in Chris Jans’ first year. The difference maker for the Bulldogs this year has been Tolu Smith down low who leads them in scoring and rebounding. D.J. Jeffries is the second-leading scorer off the wing and has been very good. Dashawn Davis and Shakeel Moore are next in line in scoring production and then also Davis leads in assists and Moore leads in steals.

As a team, the Bulldogs are 5th in points allowed at 58 points and are also decent on the glass rebounding. They need to get better on offense because they are very good at passing the ball through assists, but struggle to score. Tennessee needs to rebound here and while the Bulldogs are fiesty, they aren’t there yet. Take Tennessee here and expect them to pull away late into the second half.

Tennessee vs. Mississippi State Key Matchups

Can Dashawn Davis matchup with Santiago Vescovi? Can Uros Plavsic matchup with Tolu Smith?

Santiago Vescovi vs Dashawn Davis

Santaigo Vescovi has been great for the Vols this year. He averages 13 points, 3 assists, and 4 rebounds for the season. He’ll be going up against Dashawn Davis most of the game who averages 8 points, 3 assists, and 2 rebounds for the season. Vescovi is the better player on offense, but Davis might be better on defense. This matchup should be huge in this game because of how important each player is for their team.

Tolu Smith vs Uros Plavsic

Tolu Smith is the best player Mississippi State has on their team. He averages 14 points, 2 assists, and 8 rebounds for the season. His matchup for most of the game will be Uros Plavsic who averages 6 points, 1 assist, and 4 rebounds for the season. Plavsic is the better defender, but Smith is the better player overall, so it’ll be interesting to see this matchup. Plavsic can definitely bother Smith, but it remains to be seen by how much, which is this matchup is so big.