The SEC Tournament officially started on Wednesday evening, and for the first time in a few seasons, the Tigers were able to relax and await their opponent for Thursday.
Mizzou was given a No. 7 seed and awarded a first-round bye, meaning they would await the winner of the matchup between the No. 10 seeded Mississippi State Bulldogs and the No. 15 seeded LSU Tigers. Although LSU had been among the worst in the conference this year, many expected them to put up a decent fight against the Bulldogs.
However, that was not the case. Mississippi State played one of their best games of the season, and that was more than enough to take down LSU. They led by 20 at the half and maintained that pace throughout the second half, cruising to an easy victory.
The difference between this tournament and the regular season is the quick turnaround between games. The Bulldogs will have less than 24 hours from the end of one game to the start of the next. It will be interesting to see how much energy the unranked team brings to the court in such a short time.
Meanwhile, Mizzou has had time to rest and prepare since their last loss to Kentucky on Saturday afternoon. With ample time to game plan for either of their potential opponents, they will need to focus on resetting and locking in. Their finish to the season was a far cry from their strong start, and this break offers a chance to regroup and refocus for the tournament.
The Tigers played Mississippi State just once this season, back in early February. At that point, the Bulldogs had been climbing into the top 25 and were actually ranked higher than Mizzou.
However, the Tigers didn’t play like the lower seed at all in that game. Mizzou shot their best performance on the road all season, converting 15 three-pointers. They came away with a dominant 88-61 victory, earning their 17th win of the season and their 6th in conference play.
This was the start of the hottest streak Mizzou would go on throughout the entire regular season, setting them up for big victories against programs like Alabama. If all goes right, this game could serve as the beginning of another hot streak as the postseason kicks off.
After their loss to the Tigers, the Bulldogs went on to beat teams like Ole Miss and Texas A&M, while falling to Texas and Arkansas. They were also defeated by Alabama for the second time, in a game where they gave up 111 points and scored just 73.
This hot-and-cold team is led by head coach Chris Jans, now in his third season after coming from New Mexico State. Jans ended the team's nearly decade-long NCAA Tournament appearance drought by leading them to the tournament in both of his first two seasons, and they look poised to have a chance to return again this year.
Just like the last time these two teams squared off, the Bulldogs have one primary player on both sides of the ball who is a clear difference-maker for them.
Offensively, Josh Hubbard leads the charge, starting every game and playing the most minutes on the team. The undersized sophomore guard is the team’s leading scorer, averaging over 18 points per game, and also facilitates well, contributing more than 3 assists per night.
He also averages nearly a steal per game, though his defensive abilities are somewhat limited due to his small 5-foot-11 frame. However, his offensive impact far outweighs any defensive struggles.
Speaking of defense, junior KeShawn Murphy, who stands nearly a foot taller than Hubbard at 6-foot-10, excels at sparking the defense.
Also starting every game, and second on the team in minutes, Murphy leads the Bulldogs in rebounds a contest, with 7.5, some of the most in the stacked SEC Conference. He also leads the team in blocks with over 1 a game, and adds almost a steal a night too.
On top of that, Murphy has become an all-around threat, with his points per game skyrocketing from 4 to over 11 this season.
These two Mississippi State players need to be the main focus of head coach Dennis Gates's defense if the Tigers hope to advance to Friday's contest.
Though the Tigers already blew out this squad earlier in the season, as fans have seen, that doesn't guarantee an easy two-game sweep of any competition. They'll need to come out playing like the team that took them down the first time around.
Tip-off between these two storied programs is set for 7 p.m. from Nashville.