The 15th-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs go for their sixth consecutive win over the Mississippi Rebels when the two teams meet Wednesday night. Tip-off is slated for 9:00 PM ET at Tad Smith Coliseum.
Mississippi Rebels vs. Mississippi State Bulldogs
NCAA Basketball odds boards opened with Mississippi State favored by -2, with the total sat at 129. Early sports betting action has lifter the numers to 2.5 with a total of 131.5 at most sportsbooks.
Mississippi State (15-3 SU, 9-8 ATS) will also attempt to do
something it hasn't done in nearly 100 years, which is to win four straight games in Oxford against their in-state rival.
The Bulldogs, who are 2-1 in the Southeastern Conference, have won the last three in this series on
the road and five straight overall.
The Bulldogs are led by Arnett Moultrie and
Dee Bost, who are 4th and 5th in the SEC at 16.5 and 16.1 points, respectively.
Moultrie, who earned SEC player of the week honors last week, is also tops in
rebounding (10.9) and is tied with Kentucky’s Anthony Davis for the lead in double-doubles
with nine. MSU is 9-0 when Moultrie records a double-double and 6-0 when he
scores 20-plus points.
It’s been a difficult four-game stretch for the
Bulldogs. They lost 54-52 to then unbeaten Baylor, which saw their 11-game win
streak come to end. MSU rebounded with a narrow victory over Utah State 66-64
to wrap up their non-conference slate before losing 98-88
at Arkansas on Jan. 7 to open SEC play. However they bounced back
following Saturday's 56-52 victory against Alabama.
Ole Miss (11-6 SU, 6-8-1 ATS) has a 1-2 mark in SEC play following their 69-68
double-overtime loss at Auburn. The Rebels were led by guard Jarvis Summers with 22
points, while Nick Williams added 13. Reginald Buckner (11 points and 10 rebounds)
and Murphy Holloway (11 points and 11 rebounds) each had double-doubles. Summers
leads Ole Miss in scoring at 10.8, while Holloway is chairman of the boards
with 10 rebounds per outing.
Bost
is best
As teammate and Wooden Award finalist Moultrie puts
it: “This is (Bost’s) team. He’s the head
of our snake,” Moultrie said. “As he goes, we go.”
Dee Bost has been the catalyst for the Rebels last two
victories. He had a steal and dunk against Tennessee on Thursday helping
MSU prevail and drained three 3-pointers in the final 4:23 of a 56-52 win
against Alabama on Saturday. Bost finished with 17 points against the
Crimson Tide while Moultrie, a recently named Wooden Award finalist, had a
team-best 25 and 13 rebounds. Moultrie, the transfer from UTEP, is
the SEC’s leading rebounder with 10.9 per game and is averaging a team-best
16.5 points on 58.1 percent shooting.
Bost had a team-25 points, eight assists and six
rebounds during a 69-64 win last January at Ole Miss and had nine assists
during a 71-58 home victory over the Rebels on Feb. 19. In five games against
Ole Miss, he’s averaging 17.4 points over those games.
Mississippi State hasn’t won four straight at Ole
Miss (11-6, 1-2) since claiming the first five games there from 1914-16. The
Rebels might not make that easy as they’ve won 12 in a row at home, a streak
that began with a 71-69 upset of then-No. 10 Kentucky on Feb. 1.
Andy Kennedy’s team will have to contain Renardo
Sidney who is also a double-digit scorer (10.1 ppg). The junior forward scored
24 in last season’s win in Oxford and had 22 points and 12 rebounds during the
victory in Starkville.
The
Series
Wednesday marks the 244th matchup between the two
schools, with the Bulldogs holding a 138-105 advantage.
Trends
The favorite is 15-6-1 in the last 22 series
meetings while Ole Miss is 7-3-1 in its past 11 home games.
Mississippi State is 2-0 this year when favored by
1-2.5 points.
Harvey’s Take: Don’t be swayed by the national ranking because
there’s not much separating these two teams. The game will probably come down
to a late basket or a couple of free throws. I will make a small play on MSU
because of Bost but I won’t be spending ALL of my lunch money, just some of it.
Good luck!