Live Updates: No. 8 Tennessee vs. Mississippi State

Tennessee basketball is back home Tuesday to open the SEC home schedule against Mississippi State. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. Eastern Time start on ESPN2, with Tom Hart and Dane Bradshaw on the call.  

Follow along for all the live in-game updates on The General’s Quarters

The Vols (11-2, 0-1 SEC) dropped one spot to No. 8 in the updated Associated Press Top 25 on Monday. Mississippi State (11-2, 0-1) dropped out of the ranking after losing back-to-back games against Drake and Alabama. 

Tennessee vs. Mississippi State: How to watch, stream, listen

Tipoff Time: 7 p.m. ET, Tuesday

Location: Thompson-Boling Arena

TV: ESPNU

Streaming: ESPN App or WatchESPN.com

Radio: WNML-FM 99.1 in Knoxville. The Vol Network radio broadcast (Bob Kesling – play-by-play – Bert Bertelkamp, analyst) can be heard on local affiliates across the state of Tennessee.

Mississippi State powered by KenPom.com’s No. 6-ranked defense

State started the season with 11 straight wins under new head coach Chris Jans, before the two losses. Drake won 58-52 on a neutral floor and Alabama beat State 78-67 at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville on Wednesday.

State is No. 6 in KenPom.com‘s adjusted defensive efficiency rating, giving up 88.0 points per 100 possessions. The Bulldogs are No. 142 offensively, scoring 103.6 points per 100 possessions, and are No. 39 overall in the KenPom ratings. 

“They know how they want to play,” Barnes said. “Extremely well coached. Change defenses, play really, really hard switching. Really trying to make you think.”

Josiah-Jordan James ‘working his way back in’ for Vols

Tennessee senior wing Josiah-Jordan James practiced on Monday. He’s missed four straight games and eight of 13 so far this season due to knee soreness.

“He is doing better,” Barnes said. “He is starting to work his way back in. We will see what that leads to, but he is working his way back in.”

The Vols (11-2, 1-0 SEC) host Mississippi State (11-2, 0-1) on Tuesday, a 7 p.m. Eastern Time start on ESPN2 in their SEC home opener.

James, who had his knee scoped in the spring and had three injections done in October, played the first three games of the regular season, then missed four straight games. He returned for two games, but is missing his fourth straight game since then.

He dressed for the Ole Miss game after going through the full pregame work, but did not play in the game.

He last played in Tennessee’s 84-49 win over Eastern Kentucky on December 7. It was his second straight game, after returning from four straight games missed to play against Alcorn State, a 94-40 Tennessee win on December 4.

James played 17 minutes off the bench against EKU after playing 14 against Alcorn.

James, who underwent a knee scope in the spring, played the first three games of the regular season before missing the next four. He enters Tuesday having missed four straight games.