Mississippi State Bulldogs vs. Vanderbilt Commodores Basketball Preview

The Mississippi State Bulldogs (10-14, 3-9) are looking to bounce back after falling to Georgia, and losing 9 of their last 12 games. In the loss to Georgia, the Bulldogs posted a season low 57 points while looking out of sync on the offensive end of the floor. On a positive note, State did force a season high 20 turnovers in the contest.

Quinndary Weatherspoon scored 17 points to pace MSU, senior Craig Sword  added 13, while fellow senior Gavin Ware tied his season low with only 6. Each of the three recorded 6 rebounds a piece.

The Vanderbilt Commodores (15-10, 7-5) enter Tuesday's contest after routing Auburn, 86 - 57. Damian Jones lead the Commodores with 17 points while also grabbing 9 rebounds. Matthew Fisher - Davis added 16, and Vanderbilt's bench players combined for a total of 39 points in the dominating performance.

Wade Baldwin leads the Commodores averaging 14.5 points per game. Luke Kornet adds 9.6 points per game and leads the team in rebounds, averaging 7.6 per game. Vanderbilt is currently on a hot streak, winning 7 of their last 9 games and are 4-1 in their last five.

Vanderbilt leads the all-time series 77-47 but Mississippi State has won 11 of the last 15 meetings against Vanderbilt when facing them in Humphrey Coliseum. Tuesday will mark head coach Ben Howland's first time facing the Commodores in his career.

"They are a really good team, they are right in the middle of fighting to get to the tournament," said Howland. "I watched them on tape. They were at Auburn their last game and had them down 42 with 7 minutes to go. They are really playing well. They have all the pieces and are an NCAA Tournament team."

Following the matchup with the Commodores on Tuesday, Mississippi State will begin a two-game road stand, starting at Alabama on Saturday.