Tennessee begins their quest for their first SEC Tournament title since 1979 on Friday night, and they’ll be facing a familiar foe.
The No. 3 seed Vols (27-4, 15-3 SEC) will take on No. 6 seed Mississippi State (23-9, 10-8 SEC) on Friday night in Bridgestone Arena in Nashville in the quarterfinals of the 2019 SEC Tournament. For Tennessee, the game will mark their first contest of the tournament, and it will be the Bulldog’s second game. Mississippi State handled business against 11-seed Texas A&M on Thursday night with an 80-54 victory.
These two teams just faced each other a week and a half ago in Knoxville, and Friday will mark the 12th time the two schools have met in the SEC Tournament. Tennessee defeated the Bulldogs 71-54 back on March 5th, and UT is 8-3 all-time against State in the SEC Tournament.
In fact, these two teams faced-off in the quarterfinals of last year’s conference tournament, too. Tennessee beat Mississippi State 62-59 last year to advance to the semifinals. The Vols have won three-straight games against the Bulldogs and have beaten Mississippi State in nine of the last 11 meetings between the two programs.
Tennessee is led back two-time SEC Player of the Year Grant Williams, First-Team All-SEC forward Admiral Schofield, and Second-Team All-SEC point guard Jordan Bone. Mississippi State has First-Team All-SEC guard Quinndary Weatherspoon leading their attack.
The two teams will play approximately 25-30 minutes after the conclusion of the Kentucky-Alabama quarterfinal game that tips off at 7:00 PM Eastern.
Here’s everything you need to know about Friday’s game. If you can’t make it over to Nashville, here’s how you can watch and listen to the Tennessee vs. Mississippi State match-up in the SEC Tournament.
Tip-Off: Approximately 9:30 Eastern, March 15th, Bridgestone Arena (Nashville, TN)
TV: SEC Network
Streaming Online: WatchESPN.com or the ESPN app
Radio: Vol Network (99.1 FM or 990 AM in Knoxville/surrounding areas)
Line: Tennessee (-5.5)
