Mississippi State Men’s Basketball Continues to Rise in AP Poll

Mississippi State’s undefeated males’s basketball squad has been steadily climbing within the AP Ballot over the previous few weeks.

The Bulldogs (11-0) jumped up two spots to No. 15 within the rankings this weekend. They’re behind simply three SEC foes within the standings: Tennessee (No. 8), Alabama (No. 9) and Arkansas (No. 10). Kentucky and Auburn sit in nineteenth place and twenty third place, respectively, to spherical out convention illustration. 

Regardless of going through some challenges final week, MSU is considered one of simply 5 undefeated faculty basketball groups within the nation and the one SEC program with a goose egg within the loss column. The group survived a back-and-forth contest towards JSU within the Mississippi Coliseum on Wednesday to select up a 69-59 victory. Over the weekend, it held off a late comeback try by Nicholls State to take care of its good document.

All through this season’s non-conference slate, Tolu Smith has been the shining star for Mississippi State. The redshirt senior has averaged 16.2 factors and eight.9 rebounds per recreation whereas boasting a area objective proportion of 61.9 p.c. He’s backed up by a aggressive group of teammates which have every stepped up in massive methods to assist this system discover success.

Earlier than SEC play begins, MSU has yet another recreation remaining towards Drake. The Bulldogs will face off towards a group with the identical mascot in hopes of rounding out non-conference play with an ideal 12-0 document. From there, issues will get a bit tougher for this system. Mississippi State will open SEC play towards Alabama on Dec. 28 earlier than touring to Tennessee and internet hosting Ole Miss to kick off a packed few months of video games. 

MSU will face off towards Drake on Tuesday afternoon on the Battle within the Vault in Lincoln, Nebraska. Tipoff is ready for 4 p.m. CT, and the sport might be streamed on Baller TV.