Mississippi State (7-4, 2-1) vs. Vanderbilt (4-4, 0-2)
Memorial Gym, Nashville, Tennessee; Saturday, 1 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Two guards will be on display as D.J. Stewart Jr. and Mississippi State will battle Scotty Pippen Jr. and Vanderbilt. The junior Stewart has scored 25 percent of the team’s points this season and is averaging 18.6 over his last five games. Pippen, a sophomore, is averaging 23 points and 5.6 assists over the last five games.
BIG MEN ON CAMPUS: Vanderbilt’s Pippen has averaged 22 points and five assists while Dylan Disu has put up 12.3 points and nine rebounds. For the Bulldogs, Stewart has averaged 18.8 points while Tolu Smith has put up 12.7 points and 8.9 rebounds.
CREATING OFFENSE: Pippen has either made or assisted on 54 percent of all Vanderbilt field goals over the last five games. The sophomore guard has 41 field goals and 28 assists in those games.
ASSIST RATIOS: The Commodores have recently gotten baskets via assists more often than the Bulldogs. Vanderbilt has 47 assists on 83 field goals (56.6 percent) over its previous three contests while Mississippi State has assists on 42 of 83 field goals (50.6 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: Mississippi State is rated first among SEC teams with an offensive rebound percentage of 39.1 percent. The Bulldogs have averaged 14.1 offensive boards per game.
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