5 Key Takeaways from Mississippi State’s 68-56 Loss to Tennessee

5. Mississippi State can't come out that cold

Tennessee's defense is fantastic. There's a reason the team was No. 1, it was at home in a game it needed to have, and it clamped down fast. Mississippi State needed to come out on fire and take the narrative right away, and - nope.

Tennessee got up 8-0, Riley Kugel - more on him in a moment - broke the ice almost four minutes in, and it was all but over at that point. Mississippi State was stuck on nine points until there were just over six minutes to play in the first half, it was down 34-16 at the half, and ...

4. It was one of THOSE nights

It wasn't like the Bullogs were making a big run, but they were chipping away. Tennessee went cold, the second half was starting to bog down, and even though it was a seven point game, things were starting to shift and then ...

As time wound down, 6-11 Tennessee center Felix Okpara took a pass, fired, and hit his first three-pointer of the season. That put the Vols up ten, the Mississippi State offense stayed silent and couldn't get any momentum and with that play, it was just one of those nights on the road in the SEC.

RJ for THREE 👌

Dawgs are back within 9! #HailState🐶 | 📺 ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/7rHOBsajGZ
— Mississippi State Men's Basketball (@HailStateMBK) January 22, 2025

3. Mississippi State couldn't get on the move

Tennessee is more about control than getting into a shootout. The defense is great, the rebounding terrific, and it's No. 1 in the nation at guarding the three. But it'll turn the ball over, and Mississippi State wasn't able to do anything when it forced the mistakes.

With the shots not falling and the Bulldogs needing to create points from somewhere, just four fast break points were a killer. They didn't have a big problem with turnovers, but Tennessee did a better job of scoring after getting up and down the floor. But again, this was more about the Vol D from three which was a problem for ...

2. Riley Kugel is becoming more and more of a factor

Josh Hubbard continues to be the main man, and he gave it a run with a team-high 14 points. This is still a deep enough team to play around with the combinations, and different players are stepping up, but it's Riley Kugel who's rising up as more than just a key guy off the bench.

Kugel did a nice job from three in the win over Ole Miss after not seeing a whole lot of time in the previous two games. After the 21 he came up against the Rebels and 12 in this - second-most behind Hubbard - he's finding his scoring punch beyond just the three. With that said, he only his 2-of-7 from the outside in this when he needed to be on fire because ...

1. Mississippi State was going to need something special to beat Tennessee

Tennessee needed this win. It just came off a loss at Vanderbilt, dropped two of its last four games, and went from the rock-solid No. 1 team to taking a bit of a tumble in the rankings.

At home, and with a trip to Auburn coming up next, this game was going to bring the big effort, and it came out of the locker room and showed it right away. This is one of those games on the slate that was a likely loss for the Bulldogs unless they came up with their A game, and they really, really didn't.

Now it's on to South Carolina. Mississippi State should be favored, it's a gettable road game, and after losing three of its last four games it turns into yet another pivitol moment for the team with Alabama and a VERY quietly-strong Missouri team coming up.