STARKVILLE — Ben Howland sees the Mississippi State men’s basketball team’s victory against Vanderbilt on Tuesday as a confidence booster.

Quinndary Weatherspoon’s 3-pointer as time expired helped the Bulldogs overcome a 17-point deficit for a 75-74 win at Humphrey Coliseum.

Howland said his team needed the victory after so many close losses. MSU (11-14, 4-9 Southeastern Conference) will look to build on that win at 1:30 p.m. Saturday (SEC Network) when it faces Alabama (16-9, 7-6) at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

“This gives us momentum going into Alabama, a game we felt we should have won,” said MSU’s first-year head coach, referring to a 82-80 overtime loss on Feb. 2 in Starkville. “It feels good to be rewarded. I’m happy for our players. The most important thing is to never quit, never give up, never stop trying to do your best, trying your hardest and competing. That attitude is important to get rewarded.”

Nine of MSU’s losses in the SEC have come by an average of 6.8 points. After failing to finish in the last few minutes of several of those games, the Bulldogs showed Tuesday they had enough left to make a final push.

Weatherspoon, who is averaging 11.7 points per game (14.9 in league play) said MSU has been fighting every day to earn a reward for its effort. He said the win should help the players feel good in practice and about playing the Crimson Tide.

“I think it gives us a lot of confidence, knowing we’ve been trying to stay together as a team and we haven’t broken up,” Weatherspoon said. “I think going into the SEC tournament and the rest of the SEC games, we’ll be good.”

MSU had several chances to beat Alabama in the first meeting, including a free throw by Craig Sword with less than 10 seconds remaining, but he missed to send the game into overtime.

Since then, Alabama has extended its winning streak to five games with victories against Missouri, Texas A&M, Florida, and LSU. The Crimson Tide, who are 9-2 at Coleman Coliseum, have won six of their last seven games.

“They’re still in the hunt for an NCAA bid,” Howland said. “They’re a very good team, and we know it will be tough over there. They’re very tough and very good at home. We’ve got our work cut out for us.”

In the first meeting, Alabama was without Shannon Hale, but he has played in the last three games. He is second on the team in scoring (10.7 ppg.). Retin Obasohan, who scored 25 points against MSU in the first matchup, is averaging a team-high 16.7 ppg.

MSU has won two of its last three games, but it came out flat after a victory against Arkansas on Feb. 9 and lost to Georgia 66-57. Howland felt good about practices prior to the Georgia game, but he said the Bulldogs couldn’t recover from a slow start. He said the victory against the Commodores should help the team have good practices again.

“I think this gives us some momentum and some focus going into Saturday’s game,” Howland said.

Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait

Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.