Chris Jans was optimistic that his team had turned a corner after Mississippi State took down rival Ole Miss on the road, completing a season sweep of the hated Rebels, then played lock-down defense in the second half in a win over a top-10 Texas A&M team three days later.

The Bulldogs, it seemed, were peaking at the right time and moving their way up the standings in the loaded Southeastern Conference with the postseason drawing nearer.

But then came an unexpected roadblock in Norman, Oklahoma, against a Sooners team coming off five straight losses, including a home defeat against SEC bottom-feeder LSU. After shoring up its perimeter defense in those back-to-back ranked wins, MSU allowed Oklahoma to shoot 42% from 3-point range, including 7-for-13 in a second half in which the Bulldogs simply could not make a stop.

Going back to SEC Media Days in October, Jans knew his unit was not going to be as tough and physical defensively as his first two teams in Starkville. And overall, the sacrifices he and his staff made to get better offensively have been worth it. MSU is 7-7 in conference play with the SEC as strong as it has ever been, and is close to locking up a third straight NCAA Tournament appearance.

But offense can be fickle, while good defense, it is often said, never takes a day off. Josh Hubbard, while struggling at times in terms of efficiency, is one of the best volume scorers in the SEC. KeShawn Murphy has grown into an excellent small-ball center and has improved as a scorer and rebounder with more playing time.

The Bulldogs’ transfer portal additions in the backcourt — Claudell Harris, Riley Kugel and RJ Melendez — have been more up and down. And when those so-called secondary scorers are not making shots, MSU cannot rely on its defense to carry the day the way it did last year and the year before. With the defense missing in action Saturday in Norman, the Bulldogs could not survive a poor shooting day from Kugel.

No. 24 MSU has shown it can be competitive with and even beat some of the best teams in the nation. It has also played down to the competition at times. It’s all a matter of which version of the Bulldogs shows up on any given day.

— Benjamin Rosenberg

State has more pressing issues than the shadow of Schaefer

Mississippi State women’s basketball head coach Sam Purcell will face off against the man whose legacy he has to follow. Vic Schaefer, the most successful coach in program history who took the Bulldogs to back-to-back national championships, returns to Starkville on Thursday with his No. 1 ranked Texas team. 

The Longhorns have trended upward since Schaefer arrived in Austin, and a run of wins against defending champs South Carolina, Kentucky and LSU saw them take the top spot in this week’s AP poll. 

Only the Gamecocks and Notre Dame have wins over the Longhorns this season.

The Bulldogs’ regular-season home finale is Sunday, but the seniors were already honored ahead of the 81-55 win over Texas A&M. 

JerKaila Jordan, who has stayed through all three seasons of Purcell’s tenure so far, remains focused on avoiding a repeat of the end of last season. 

Jordan’s focus after Sunday was not on the occasion, but on the here and now, and what Mississippi State is trying to shake from last year, when State collapsed down the final stretch and fell short of an NCAA Tournament bid. 

“We’re just moving forward each game knowing that every game matters,” Jordan said. “We don’t want to have it like last year. We were right there to make the (NCAA) Tournament and it slipped out of our hands. So just making sure every game matters, we go out there and play our best knowing that we have the postseason ahead of us.”

Texas and Schaefer are just another opponent, and the occasion should not weigh heavily on any one of the current group of Bulldogs. They have a chance to go to Greenville, South Carolina, for the SEC Tournament with confidence and momentum, and more than that they have a chance to get back to the dance.

— Colin Damms