Today's game: Ole Miss (14-8, 4-4 SEC) at No. 20 MSU (18-5, 5-3), 6 p.m., ESPN2 (Rece Davis play-by-play, Hubert Davis analyst), SiriusXM 91.

Mississippi State goes for revenge tonight, and it gets to do so at home in front of a sold-out crowd on national TV. To win, the Bulldogs need to figure out how to fix what went wrong in the first meeting, a 75-68 Ole Miss win on Jan. 18.

Arnett Moultrie struggled to get going offensively that game, finishing with 10 points. As you can read in today's Journal (CLICK HERE), Moultrie is eager for a better showing tonight.

Then there's Dee Bost, who was checked by the taller, longer Terrance Henry and couldn't find many paths toward the basket. He scored 15 points on 4-of-15 shooting (all 3-pointers), and several of those points came late once Ole Miss had the game in hand. Henry says he'll be guarding Bost again (CLICK HERE).

There was apparently a bit of trash talk between the two that night. Bost hopes to let his play do the talking this time.

"I've got to attack him," Bost said. "Up there I was kind of being passive and not attacking. But we're at home this game, and I'm going to attack him more and get to the foul line."

This game is big beyond the rivalry aspect. A win for MSU gives it a two-game lead over Ole Miss, and puts it back in a tie for third with Vanderbilt, which is 6-3 after defeating LSU last night. It would also keep State one game back of Florida, which defeated the Bulldogs earlier this season.

MSU isn't catching Kentucky – and probably not Florida – so it's essentially playing for an SEC Tournament first-round bye. The top four teams earn that privilege.

If MSU is to win tonight, it should probably emulate the approach being taken by sophomore guard Jalen Steele.

"We've got to play harder. We've got to go out there with the mindset that Ole Miss is not a bad team – they're very good. We can't take any team for granted. We've got to go out there, play hard, play together, and defend. Box out, keep (Reggie) Buckner off the boards, and I think we'll do good Thursday and win the game."