NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The top-seeded Tennessee men's basketball team will play their first game of the SEC Tournament on Friday against Mississippi State inside Bridgestone Arena in Nashville at 1 p.m. ET.
Mississippi State advanced to the quarterfinals with a 70-60 victory against LSU on Thursday afternoon. The Bulldogs handed Tennessee its first conference loss of the season on January 10 in Starkville, Miss. in a 77-72 decision.
The Bulldogs have the distinction of being the only team in conference play to beat Tennessee this season without also losing to the Vols since the teams only played once.
Tennessee stars Dalton Knecht and Zakai Zeigler put up the vast majority of points for the Vols in that loss, accounting for 54 of the team's 72 points. They were the only two Vols to score in double figures in that game.
Despite the win, Mississippi State also got the majority of its scoring from a tandem, with Josh Hubbard's 25 points and Tolu Smith III's 23 points leading the Bulldogs to the win.
Tennessee trailed by 13 at the half in its last meeting against Mississippi State and managed to tie the game with just over five minutes left in regulation, and in a tie game with 14 seconds remaining, the Bulldogs pulled ahead to defeat Tennessee.
The Vols and Bulldogs will meet again in the first SEC Tournament game of the day on Friday, March 15. That game will air on ESPN.
