Mississippi State vs. South Carolina: How to watch, odds, predictions from ESPN, KenPom

Mississippi State begins its SEC Tournament run on Thursday with a second-round matchup against South Carolina at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. Ahead of the game, which will be broadcast live on SEC Network, predictions and betting odds – including KenPom analytics – are rolling in.

How to watch Mississippi State vs. South Carolina

Tip-off: 6 p.m. ET

Location: Amalie, Tampa, Florida

Channel: SEC Network

Vegas odds

Mississippi State is a 4-point favorite over South Carolina on Thursday, according to VegasInsider. The over-under is set at 137 points.

ESPN BPI prediction

Predicted winner: Mississippi State

Predicted point differential: 5.6

Win probability (for Mississippi State): 70.5%

Matchup quality: 77.2

ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) is a tool that measures team strength and uses that to predict outcomes of future performances. ESPN’s BPI has Mississippi State vs South Carolina ranked as the 19th highest-rated game on Thursday’s slate in terms of matchup quality.

KenPom prediction

Predicted final score: Mississippi State 70, South Carolina 66

Win probability (for Mississippi State): 63%

KenPom is another tool that provides advanced analysis across college basketball. Like ESPN, KenPom projects that Mississippi State comes away with a victory over South Carolina.

More on Mississippi State vs South Carolina

Mississippi State and South Carolina meet on Day Two of the SEC Tournament, but each play their first game of the postseason. After each avoiding the Wednesday slate of games with a higher seed, the two teams will hope to break losing streaks which ended the regular season and keep their NCAA Tournament dreams alive.

Mississippi State comes into the game after winning just two of its last five, including a 66-56 loss on the road against South Carolina in February. The Bulldogs lost their final two regular season games against Auburn and Texas A&M but now get a rematch with South Carolina.

The Gamecocks are 3-2 with losses against Alabama and Auburn in their last five games. Despite a recent win over LSU as well, Frank Martin expressed frustration to cap the regular season.