After LSU dismissed former head coach Will Wade following a 20-win season and an NCAA Tournament appearance last year, the Tigers (12-11) are floundering during conference play under new head coach Matt McMahon. They try to get things back on track after 10 consecutive losses in Starkville against Mississippi State (15-8), who was ranked as high as 15th in the nation in mid-December. The Bulldogs are on a three-game win streak, which began with an overtime victory against No. 11 TCU on January 28.
Tip-off from the Humphrey Coliseum, where Mississippi State is 9-3 this season, is set for 9 p.m. ET. The Bulldogs are favored by 10 points in the latest Mississippi State vs. LSU odds from Caesars Sportsbook, and the over/under is set at 126. Before entering any LSU vs. Mississippi State picks, you'll want to see the college basketball predictions from the model at SportsLine.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every Division I college basketball game 10,000 times. The model enters Week 14 of the season 57-37 on all top-rated college basketball picks this season, returning more than $1,000 for $100 players. Anybody who has followed it has seen huge returns.
Now, the model has set its sights on LSU vs. Mississippi State. You can head to SportsLine to see its picks. Here are several college basketball odds for Mississippi State vs. LSU:
- LSU vs. Mississippi State spread: Miss. St. -10
- LSU vs. Mississippi State over/under: 126 points
- LSU vs. Mississippi State money line: Miss. St. -550, LSU +400
- LSU vs. Mississippi State picks: See picks here
What you need to know about LSU
LSU suffered its ninth consecutive SEC defeat on Saturday against No. 4 Alabama, 79-69. Derek Fountain did most of the heavy lifting for the Tigers in the losing effort, finishing with 26 points and seven rebounds. The only other player to finish with a double-digit point total was Cam Hayes, who came up with 15 points and eight rebounds in 28 minutes off of the bench.
Simply put, LSU has been a poor shooting team this year, knocking down just 41.3% of their attempts, which is 326th out of 351 Division I programs. Things have been even worse during their current 10-game skid, in which LSU has only shot 35.4% as a team and 30.4% from beyond the 3-point line. The Bulldogs aren't going to make it any easier on the Tigers, after they have held opponents to 35.7% from the field and 27% from deep over their current three-game win streak.
What you need to know about Mississippi State
Mississippi State did what it needed to do to escape with a win in its last outing on Saturday against Missouri, 63-52. Tolu Smith scored a game-high 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead all players. The Bulldogs also saw three other players score 10 points apiece in the win: D.J. Jeffries, Cameron Matthews and Tyler Stevenson.
Jeffries has been the most productive player for the Bulldogs after Smith this season, and the senior forward has averaged 8.8 points and six rebounds per game. Mississippi State has done well to find the open shooter on offense over their current three-game run, averaging 18.7 assists during this stretch. Defensively, they've also come away with 8.7 steals per game, while LSU has averaged just 10.7 assists and 5.5 steals over its last 10 outings.
How to make LSU vs. Mississippi State picks
The model has simulated Mississippi State vs. LSU 10,000 times and the results are in. We can tell you that the model is leaning Over, and it's also generated a point-spread pick that is hitting in 60% of simulations. You can only see the pick at SportsLine.
Who wins Mississippi State vs. LSU? And which side of the spread is a must-back? Visit SportsLine right now to see which side of the spread you need to jump on, all from the computer model that has crushed its college basketball picks, and find out.
