STARKVILLE — During his postgame press conference Saturday night, Mississippi State coach Chris Jans cut off a question including the phrase “when the team loses seven of eight.”
“I don’t remember that,” Jans said with a smile.
The way Mississippi State has been playing, the Bulldogs don’t seem to recall it, either.
MSU held Missouri — and the nation’s seventh-best offense — almost completely in check Saturday evening at Humphrey Coliseum. The Bulldogs (14-8, 3-7 Southeastern Conference) limited the Tigers (17-6, 5-5 SEC) to just 32 percent shooting from the field in a wire-to-wire 63-52 win in Starkville.
“I thought our guys had great intensity and focus from the get-go,” Jans said.
Mississippi State never trailed Missouri, which was one spot away from cracking the AP Top 25 on Monday, and ran its winning streak to three games.
MSU picked up another big win behind a friendly home crowd, never truly dominating the Tigers but leading by a respectable margin for nearly the entire contest.
Missouri got within four points with 10:38 to play, but the Bulldogs outscored the Tigers 18-11 the rest of the way.
Forward/center Tolu Smith led the way again for Mississippi State, scoring 25 points on 8-of-12 shooting in the victory and adding 12 rebounds for another double-double.
Smith scored in double digits for the seventh straight game, including his third game of 20 points or more in that stretch.
The big man said he’s trying to will the Bulldogs to their first NCAA tournament since 2019 — and his first ever.
“We’re at the home stretch of this thing,” Smith said. “We’ve got goals we’re trying to reach. We’re trying to get to the tournament. Whatever it takes, whether I score 20 points or zero points, as long as we get the win.”
Smith was also 9 of 12 at the free throw line, part of a much-needed solid showing from the Bulldogs at the stripe. MSU was 18 of 25 from the foul line, considerably better than its season average of 62.4 percent.
Jans credited Smith for hard work behind the scenes at the line.
“He’s put in hours and hours on his free throw stroke and his game, and it’s paying off for him,” Jans said.
Only five players scored for the Bulldogs. D.J. Jeffries, Cameron Matthews and Tyler Stevenson each had 10 points, while Shakeel Moore added eight.
Moore and point guard Dashawn Davis both navigated foul trouble, picking up their fourth personals with more than eight minutes left in the game, but neither fouled out.
The pair of guards was critical in the Bulldogs’ strong defensive effort against a team averaging 81.9 points coming into Saturday — nearly 30 more than the Tigers finished with.
Jans credited assistant coach George Brooks for coming up with a scouting report for Missouri and its one-of-a-kind offense.
“Their style of play is very unique,” Jans said. “It was the hardest prep that I’ve had since I’ve been the coach here. They play a style that you don’t see very often.”
Mississippi State was ready regardless, and the Bulldogs’ performance shot their defense up to fifth in the nation per KenPom.com, a jump of several spots.
MSU shot just 15 percent from deep but made 42 percent of its attempts from the field, an offensive improvement for a team badly in need.
The Bulldogs are playing good basketball ahead of another home game against LSU, loser of 10 straight games. The Tigers (12-11, 1-9 SEC) visit Humphrey Coliseum at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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