Ben Howland brings his Mississippi State Bulldogs to Rupp Arena tonight for the first of back-to-back games vs. ranked opponents. After facing the No. 12 Cats, the Bulldogs travel to No. 13 Texas Tech for the Big 12/SEC Challenge on Saturday. Yesterday, Howland told reporters he was anxious to see how his squad — 13-5 overall, 4-2 in the SEC — handled a challenging week. Then, big man Tolu Smith went down with a knee injury in Mississippi State’s win over Ole Miss.
“I was really looking forward to this stretch. I was just so disappointed after the game I just didn’t have my normal amount of elation and joy after a win over our rival because of what happened to Tolu.