When the No. 15-seeded Mississippi State Bulldogs play the Drake Bulldogs in the Battle of the Vaults on Tuesday night, they will attempt to maintain their undefeated season.
On Saturday, the MSU Bulldogs defeated Nicholls State by a score of 68-66 to improve to 11-0 overall. After falling to Saint Louis by eight points in their previous outing, the DU Bulldogs are now on a two-game losing streak.
Drake vs Mississippi State Betting Odds
Drake vs Mississippi State Match Details
Fixture: Mississippi State Bulldogs at Drake Bulldogs
Date and Time: Tuesday, December 20 at 5:00 PM ET
Venue: Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln, Nebraska
Drake vs Mississippi State Key Stats
The MSU Bulldogs sped off to a 11-0 start to the season by taking advantage of their easy schedule up to this point. All 11 of the MSU Bulldogs' games were favorites, but only four of them had spreads under ten points.
They added some solid victories to their record by defeating Marquette and Utah in November, and ever since they have handled business as heavy favorites. In contrast, they have only played once in their previous six games, covering the spread. They won by just two points against Nicholls State on Saturday, falling far short of covering the 21.5-point spread.
The DU Bulldogs are off to a fast start this season, going 6-0 through their first six games. At Indiana State at the end of November, the DU Bulldogs lost their first conference game by a score of two despite being 2.5-point favorites. Before dropping their most recent two games against Richmond and St. Louis, they responded with a pair of basketball victories as overwhelming favorites against UIC and Omaha.
It wasn't too frightening when they lost to the Billikens as five-point underdogs, but it was disastrous when they fell to the Spiders as 2.5-point favorites in an 82-52 rout. Following this game, the DU Bulldogs will host a non-Division I opponent on Thursday afternoon.
Drake vs Mississippi State Betting Prediction
In addition to having a significant height advantage over DU's tiny defense, the MSU Bulldogs are second nationally in offensive rebounding. The MSU Bulldogs will also be the DU Bulldogs' greatest defensive opponent, which is bad news for an offense that is having trouble shooting from the outside and winning the offensive glass. Due to their size advantage, the MSU Bulldogs should win on Tuesday and keep their undefeated record.