STARKVILLE — Only two weeks remain until the start of SEC basketball, and Mississippi State head coach Sam Purcell is still looking for more from his team.

Purcell has praised the effort of his Bulldog squad, which is 10-1 through 11 nonconference games and fresh off blowout wins over Pittsburgh, Charlotte and Southern Miss. He knows his team should win those games, though, and his focus remains on the fundamentals where the margin for error shrinks drastically against SEC opposition.

“Defense and rebounding,” he said when asked where he is still looking for more. “We’ve got to hit bodies. I keep saying, it’s fake numbers, we’ve got to have relentless effort in finding five people to box out, because it’s coming.”

The Bulldogs open their SEC campaign on New Year’s Day against Auburn. The 8-3 Tigers aren’t considered conference contenders, but when even the lower end of the conference has a winning record, there is plenty to prepare for when the lights get brighter.

“When you start predicting what is to come in the SEC, this year, I think it’s going to be the hardest year in the league,” Purcell said. “From top to bottom, there’s not much of a break.

All 16 SEC programs are currently in the top 100 of the NCAA NET Rankings. After MSU starts its campaign against Auburn, it faces five consecutive matchups with Top 25 SEC programs, starting with a trip to take on No. 9 Oklahoma in Norman.

The Bulldogs will get home court advantage for games against No. 18 Tennessee, No. 14 Vanderbilt and No. 15 Kentucky in that run, but a home crowd only goes so far against the best on the court.

“You’re looking at games, night in and night out, that are going to be five-point games and absolute battles,” Purcell added. “If you control the boards and limit turnovers, you’re going to have a fighter’s chance, and that’s what I’m really trying to hone in on with these three games we have, so it can get us ready come opening day against Auburn.”

The head coach joked that in the “Christmas spirit,” he and his staff have had some “Come-to-Jesus” meetings with players over the fundamentals and the focus required to take their game to another level.

One of Purcell’s trusted staff members, Samantha Williams, has helped with player-development meetings. With so many transfers and freshmen, the focus has been on learning as much about the team, what they can do and what they need to work on, and Purcell’s seeing the work pay off.

“It’s coming together, they’re playing together,” he said. “We’ve done a player development meeting where we talked about strengths and weaknesses, because we have a lot of new women on this team. They’re understanding what I can bring to this team, what we want from them and where they can attack. A combination of all those things is why you saw the turnovers finally low at a good point.”

The Bulldogs face Alabama State at Humphrey Coliseum today at 6:30 p.m., one of two remaining nonconference home games this month. A Saturday trip to face La Salle and a return home on Dec. 28 against Stamford are all that’s left before the SEC gauntlet.

Purcell wants to see continued work in team defense and rebounding, but he’s settled on a strong rotation with a balance of experience and freshmen talent.

“I like our rotation and where everyone else is at,” he said. “Jaylah Lampley has come on strong. I think she’s at 22-23 minutes a game. Probably her and Madison (Francis) are top-20 in minutes for freshmen on a significant team. They’re having a huge impact, and I like where everyone else is at.”