Mississippi State vs South Carolina Odds & Picks (Jan. 31)

Mississippi State Underperforming in January

Saying it’s been a month to forget would be putting it mildly when analyzing the results, or lack thereof, for the Bulldogs in January. They are just 2-6 so far in 2023, but are hoping their ugly stretch is behind them after a win over a TCU team that’s made it’s way up the table in the odds to win March Madness.

Pushing the Horned Frogs to their limits, Tolu Smith led the way for the Bulldogs scoring a season-high 27 points to go with 13 rebounds in the overtime victory. It’s pretty surprising they lost their previous five games, but three of those defeats were to top-25 ranked opponents.

Offense has been a struggle for the Bulldogs lately. Without taking their win in the extra session against TCU into account, Mississippi State has averaged just 58.7 points per game for the rest of the month.

They’ve managed to keep most of those contests close thanks to an impressive defense that ranks 11th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency according to KenPom.

South Carolina Gamecocks on Five-Game Losing Skid

South Carolina’s game has been downright ugly for a lot of this season. It appears they’re incapable of taking care of the ball on offense, with 54 more turnovers than assists. They are 326th in assist to turnover ratio amongst Division I teams, putting them in the bottom 10% in the nation in that category.

Currently on a five game losing streak, they delivered their best performance in the last couple of weeks in their last game, coming up three points short in an overtime loss to Georgia.

Prior to that, they lost four games in a row by at least 10 points. It’s no wonder they’re double digit ‘dogs in the college basketball odds for this matchup against Mississippi State.

Opponents have been pouring in buckets this month against a Gamecocks defense that can’t seem to stop anybody. So far in eight games in this calendar year, South Carolina has allowed exactly 80 points per game with each of their last three opponents putting in exactly 81 points. As such, they’ve hit the over seven of eight times this month.

Mississippi State vs South Carolina Prediction

You can’t say either side excels on offense in this matchup, but the over/under has been set at a feeble 126 points. That’s currently the lowest total available for any Division I game in the college basketball odds on Tuesday.

Mississippi State vs South Carolina Recent Results

In their last five head-to-head meeting, these times have combined to hit the under four times, with the Bulldogs also covering the spread four times.

The over/under in the Mississippi State vs South Carolina odds just feels a bit too low. Even in the only game in January where they went over the betting line, the Gamecocks still combined with their opponent to finish with over 126 points.

Looking at the Bulldogs results this month, they have gone under 126 points three times in eight games. Our prediction is that these two teams, who both went over 150 points in each of their last games, combine to top the low total set for this one.