The Good, Bad, And Ugly: Tennessee’s Loss vs. Mississippi State

Breaking down the good, bad, and ugly from the Tennessee Volunteer's devastating loss to the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Tennessee took on the Mississippi State Bulldogs Wednesday night in a game they did not win. The Volunteers were the favorites entering Starkville and walked out without a win. Here is everything you need to know. Check out the good, bad, and ugly of the Tennessee vs. Mississippi State game.

The Good

Zakai Zeigler was the good. Zakai was single-handedly the best player for Tennessee in this basketball game on Wednesday night. Zeigler had 26 points, seven assists, two rebounds, one block, and three steals. He was the heart and soul of the team, as he was the fire starter early and had to do everything he could to keep this team’s hopes alive all game long. Another good is the second-half performance. The Vols were down double digits and came out of the half firing on all cylinders. Even though they did not take home a win, they had many people convinced they would.

The Bad

The bad would be the performance of the key players outside of Knecht and Zeigler. Knecht and Zeigler combined for a total of 54 out of 72 total points. Aidoo performed well, but he did foul out, and that was another bad moment for the Tennessee Volunteers. Vescovi only played 5 minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, and that’s yet another thing to mention.

The Ugly

The overall outcome of this game is ugly. The #5 ranking will likely be bumped down, especially considering the Volunteers lost to an unranked opponent. They performed poorly in the first half and performed well in the second half, which isn’t good, especially if a team as physical as Mississippi State is firing on all cylinders.

Tennessee must have a short-term memory as they will travel to play a talented Georgia Bulldogs team on Saturday in another tough conference matchup. Tennessee will likely be the favorites; however, seeing how this team can bounce back from a devastating loss will be a huge test.

Tennessee Volunteers PG Zakai Zeigler during the loss to Mississippi State. (Photo courtesy of Tennessee Athletics)

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