STARKVILLE — Mississippi State coach Chris Jans hasn’t felt the need to delve too deep into the Bulldogs’ NCAA tournament résumé in recent meetings with his players.
Jans isn’t superstitious, but with MSU winning five straight games from Jan. 28 through Saturday, he didn’t see any reason to get too particular.
“Obviously, I’m aware of all the numbers and the metrics and what’s going on, but I just didn’t feel like we needed to really deep dive into it because of how well we’re playing,” Jans said after Wednesday’s loss to Kentucky at Humphrey Coliseum.
For Mississippi State (17-9, 5-8 Southeastern Conference), the importance of Saturday’s game at Ole Miss (10-16, 2-11 SEC) goes without saying.
The Bulldogs and Rebels tip off at 2:30 p.m. Saturday on the SEC Network from SJB Pavilion in a game MSU simply cannot afford to lose.
And for what it’s worth, Jans doesn’t expect them to.
MSU was outclassed by a Kentucky team desperate for a victory Wednesday, but Jans doesn’t think the Bulldogs will fall back into a losing skid from here on out.
“I really believe that come Saturday at 2:30 that we’re going to come out of the gates fighting and scratching and clawing and putting our best foot forward and giving ourselves the best chance to win,” Jans said.
The Bulldogs will take on an Ole Miss team that has lost 13 of its past 15 games. The Rebels haven’t won a home SEC contest since Jan. 24, 2022, against Florida.
Those same Gators handed Ole Miss its most recent loss, a 79-64 defeat on Wednesday in Gainesville. Rebels coach Kermit Davis blamed his team’s inability to pressure on the perimeter for its defensive lapses.
“Florida just felt really comfortable,” Davis said. … “They made a couple of tough shots but just, offensively, too many easy baskets that we gave up.”
For Mississippi State in its own recent loss, defensive rebounding was the problem.
Kentucky cleaned the glass to the tune of 18 offensive boards; MSU had just seven.
Both the Bulldogs and Rebels rank in the top 30 nationally in offensive rebounding, although Davis said that might not be a good thing for his team.
“We’ve been a good offensive rebounding team all year long, because we’ve missed some shots,” he said. “And so we go chase it.”
Mississippi State has had its own scoring struggles this season, but things have turned around a bit. Jans said he consistently praised his players during timeouts Wednesday for the way they were playing on offense.
It wasn’t enough against the Wildcats, but Jans thinks that loss is no reason for despair as the Bulldogs enter the season’s final five games.
“Who knows what the outcome will be, but I don’t think it’s going to be a lack of effort or a lack of focus in preparation heading into Oxford,” he said.
The trip to Ole Miss is — just barely — a Quadrant 2 game for MSU, a solid win to have on a postseason résumé.
With the Bulldogs’ 5-8 conference record, it’s as close to a must-win as there is before the SEC or NCAA tournaments.
Even though Jans might not say it, he knows where the Bulldogs stand — in what he thinks is a good position. Getting a win Saturday would only help.
“I’m confident in this group,” Jans said. “I love coaching this group. They’ve proven to me what they’re made of.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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