The Official #9 Tennessee vs. Mississippi State Game Thread, 6:00 PM ET, SEC Network

[TrumpedUpVol]

Going into the half with anything less than a five point lead, let alone a tie or deficit, will be disheartening. The Vols are still going to push it in the second half and win easy, but they've outplayed State all said and find themselves up one.

 

[Clad in Big Orange]

State playing like they want to win it all

 

[connor]

This game is beginning to make me nervous

 

[patrick]

I don’t think that was a foul. And Dane always carries water for the referees.

 

[UT_VOLS13]

Since 1985 no team that lost in the quarterfinals of their tournament has won the NCAA Championship.

 

[Vol49er]

State playing like they want to win it all

Well id think so

 

[BreatheUT]

Uros is the worst rebounding 7-footer I’ve ever seen.

Slow feet, average hands and a bad vertical normally causes that.

 

[VolArmy74]

Mam, hopefully the defense picks it up in the second. Not having Aidoo thanks to the whistle has hurt.

 

[hUTch2002]

Wow those KC FTs looked fantastic!

 

[Clad in Big Orange]

Powell. You have one job.

 

[hUTch2002]

You have one freaking job Powell. Come on man!

 

[tnvols72]

Powell is awful

 

[Stoerner Fumbles]

Powell contributes -5 points to every game.

 

[patrick]

Powell has nooooooo confidence.

 

[TooLegit2Quit]

Feels like a year since JJJ picked up his 2nd foul.

 

[zaqhhh]

Good job on forcing turnovers but other than that we are losing bad.

Better pick it up

 

[TrumpedUpVol]

You have one freaking job Powell. Come on man!

Fulkerson shouldn't even have kicked it out in the first place, but you're right that Powell's only utility is to hit those shots.

 

[WhenUrVolUrVFL]

All of these teams play scrubby illegal defense because the refs let them get away with it.

We play clean basketball and other schools don’t. It’s ****ing infuriating.

 

[hUTch2002]

Played poorly, got banged up, had foul trouble, still up 2. I’ll take it.

 

[VolFreakJosh]

Good job on forcing turnovers but other than that we are losing bad.

Better pick it up

I’m not sure if you know what the word “losing” actually means

 

[TheMookieMonster]

Shocker, Powell misses a wide open 3. Pretty uninspiring half of basketball. You know Rick ain’t going to be happy with that defense.

 

[Switch 625]

Bad instin

Slow feet and a bad vertical normally causes that.

too. I remember playing against some old timers at the park back in the day. They had slow feet and no vertical but knew where the rebound was going and blocked out to get the ball.

 

[VolunteerCeltic]

Defense needs to step up, too many breakdowns and slow shifts

 

[connor]

Well I think that’s the best first half out of Miss St we’ll see. I’m hoping we can just close this out in the second half

 

[Kicker82]

Tighten up the defense second half and have the fresher legs. We should be able to win this by 8-10 points.