Mississippi State men’s hoops will face Pittsburgh in NCAA Tournament’s First Four

Mississippi State men’s basketball received a No. 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs will face Pittsburgh in the First Four in Dayton. If State wins, MSU will face No. 6 Iowa State in Greensboro, North Carolina in the first round.

Chris Jans’ team proved this season that it responds well to adversity. MSU started out the SEC slate 1-7, and finished conference play 7-3 en route to March Madness. State enters the NCAA Tournament with a 21-12 overall record, 8-10 in SEC play.  Tolu Smith was named to the All-SEC First Team and will finally get a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in his career.

MSU’s first opponent, Pittsburgh, finished the year 22-11 (14-6 in ACC).

Jans has plenty of NCAA Tournament experience, but the rest of his team does not. The only Bulldog who has participated in March Madness is Will McNair, and the two games that he played in came last year for Jans at New Mexico State. The Aggies beat UCONN in the first round bet fell to Arkansas in the Round of 32.

If the Bulldogs beat Pitt/Iowa State, they will face the winner of No. 3 Xavier/No. 14 Kennesaw State on Sunday. Be sure to follow along as we will have you covered throughout their postseason journey.