On a brisk night on the West End of Nashville, Tennessee, the Mississippi State traveled into the belly of the beast of Memorial Gymnasium to face off with the Vanderbilt Commodores in a Super Tuesday Southeastern Conference matchup.

Fresh off its dominance of South Carolina on Saturday, Mississippi State looked to take the show on the road as it builds momentum towards competing for the Southeastern Conference title. Coming into the game with Vanderbilt on Tuesday night, the conversation around the team turned to becoming one of the best in the conference and taking that to the next level by becoming one of the best in the nation. As the Bulldogs shifted the focus to Vanderbilt, the national basketball polls ranked Mississippi State 14th. Vegas gave the Bulldogs not much of a point spread as they came into the game as a two-and-a-half road favorite over Vanderbilt.

Going on the road in the Southeastern Conference is no easy feat, especially in a place with enough folklore and magic; not many teams escape with a win; however, as much as Vanderbilt tried to channel their Memorial Magic but to no avail in the first half.

Mississippi State would put together a strong first half, capped off with the physical style of play from a Chris Jans-coached team, taking a 39-28 lead over the hometown Vanderbilt Commodores to the break. Cameron Matthews would be the leader in scoring for the Bulldogs at the break with ten points, while RJ Melendez had nine, with Josh Hubbard bringing up the rear with five.

As the second half gave way, Mississippi State came out swinging as they looked to bury the Commodores early on to set the scene for an easy road win. At the under-16 media timeout, the Bulldogs had extended the lead to 52-32 over Vanderbilt. With 10:52 remaining, behind a 9-0 run, Vanderbilt forced Mississippi State to call a timeout as the Bulldogs held on to a 56-43 lead over the Commodores. Credit to Vanderbilt, the Commodores refused to back down, narrowing the lead to five, with Mississippi State holding for dear life to a 65-60 lead with 4:00 remaining. A Claudell Harris three-pointer from the timeout would extend the Mississippi State lead to 68-60 with 3:09 on the clock. Cameron Matthews would follow the made three-pointer from Harris with a dunk of his own to extend the Mississippi State lead to 70-60 with 2:04 on the clock, forcing a Vanderbilt timeout.

RJ Melendez led the Bulldogs in scoring with 19 points. Cameron Matthews finished in second with 16 points.

With the win over Vanderbilt, the Bulldogs improve to 14-1 overall, the best start in 21 years.

On a night when Kentucky and top-ranked Tennessee suffered Southeastern Conference road woes, Mississippi State responded by dominating another NCAA Tournament-caliber team, as it did a few weeks ago against Memphis. With each game that passes, not only does Mississippi State continue to show signs of contention for the Southeastern Conference crown, but the Bulldogs quietly have one of the most complete teams in the country worth of a Final Four run for the first time since 1996. Mississippi State will take its fair share of bumps inside of Southeastern Conference play, but there’s something different about this team that gives the Bulldogs faithful something to be excited about for the next three months.

Mississippi State will return home to a sold-out Humphrey Coliseum as they welcome the Kentucky Wildcats to Starkville, Mississippi, for a marquee Saturday night.

Photo Credits: Mississippi State Basketball on X