STARKVILLE — Chris Jans knows it’s always more fun to play with a lead than to play from behind.
That’s the message the Mississippi State basketball coach and the rest of his staff have delivered to players over the past few weeks when it comes to their academics.
Get on top of things early, Bulldogs coaches have preached, and they won’t be an issue in the end.
Jans said Monday he hopes that approach works as his players prepared for a week of final exams — but little basketball.
“I’ll be honest with you, this is a less challenging week than most for me,” he said. “We’ve played plenty of games during finals in the past.”
Instead, the Bulldogs’ first game since an 82-52 rout of Mississippi Valley State on Dec. 3 is Sunday night, a 7:30 p.m. tipoff at Minnesota (4-5, 0-2 Big Ten). The game will be broadcasted on the Big Ten Network.
Mississippi State lost to the Golden Gophers last year in Starkville, but Jans said that result would have no impact on the Bulldogs’ preparation for Sunday’s contest.
He said it hadn’t even occurred to him to watch tape from a game that was one year, one MSU coach and two very different rosters ago.
“Teams are so different from year to year now,” Jans said. “It’ll make no difference or bearing on the result of this year’s matchup.”
Minnesota improved to 7-0 with its 81-76 win in Starkville last Dec. 5 but has struggled considerably since then. The Golden Gophers finished last year at 13-17, and they’re off to a 4-5 start to this season.
Purdue and Michigan have both dealt coach Ben Johnson’s team losses in early-season Big Ten Conference games in the past week, most recently a 90-75 win by the Wolverines on Thursday in Minneapolis.
Minnesota is just 3-2 inside the friendly confines of Williams Arena, including a November loss to DePaul, but Jans knows Mississippi State’s first true road game of the season comes with raised stakes as well as a raised court.
That’s because the Bulldogs checked in at No. 23 in Monday’s AP poll, becoming ranked for the first time this season.
Jans said Monday morning that would lead to one of two outcomes.
“They’ll either think that they’ve arrived and done something — that ‘paper champion’ thing that we talked about … or it’ll motivate them more and they’ll want more and they’ll continue to stay hungry and work even harder and buy in even more to what we’re doing and how we need to play for this team to be successful,” he said.
On the “Dawg Talk” radio show Monday evening, Jans said a positive Monday afternoon practice had him optimistic Mississippi State’s reaction would be more in line with the latter.
For a piecemeal roster cobbled together via the transfer portal, that’s a great sign.
And Sunday night’s game against Minnesota is the Bulldogs’ first chance to prove they’re deserving of that ranking — and perhaps more.
“We still feel like we’re getting to know each other better,” Jans said. “Eventually, we’re going to have to settle in, more than likely once we get into SEC play. But we still have four games for those guys to kind of show us where they’re at.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 24 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 24 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
Join the Discussion