STARKVILLE — The Mississippi State men’s basketball team wrapped up its overseas Portugal trip Wednesday without its head coach. 

Chris Jans, MSU’s second-year leader, left the trip early to return to the United States to deal with a family matter, according to a statement released Tuesday evening. 

Without Jans, the Bulldogs finished their trip with a 95-72 win over AVEIRO All-Stars to go 3-0 over the past week.

MSU also beat Portugal All-Stars, 100-40, and Lisbon All-Stars, 76-50, during its overseas tour. 

Though this year’s season doesn’t officially begin until early November, when the Bulldogs play Arizona State in Chicago on Nov. 8, these three games gave a glimpse of what we could possibly expect in Jans’ encore in Starkville.

MSU will be a better three-point shooting team 

It would be hard for MSU to be even worse at shooting the long-ball as it was last season. 

The Bulldogs finished last in college basketball  in three-point field goal percentage at 26.6%. If Portugal was any indicator, that number is going to improve this winter. 

In three games, MSU knocked down 37 three-pointers. Between its first two games against Portugal and Lisbon All-Stars, the Bulldogs knocked down 28 combined three-pointers (18 of which came against Lisbon). 

The biggest difference appears to be that MSU simply has more shooting options from long range. Freshman Josh Hubbard (more on him later) made an impression with his shooting. As did Marshall transfer Andrew Taylor and Adrian Myers. Trey Fort, who scored 16 in Wednesday’s game, also showed outside shotmaking ability. 

Early signs show Jans’ efforts to improve his team’s shooting proficiency could be paying off. 

Andrew Taylor will be a much-needed offensive weapon 

Taylor came to Starkville known for his three-point shooting. He did plenty to show that off over the past week. 

But he displayed a lot more to his game, too. Like his ability to create for himself off the dribble, either to a pull-up midrange or getting to the basket on the drive. Or creating for others, like feeding DJ Shawn Jones Jr. on an alley-oop. 

Through three games Taylor averaged 10.3 points per game, his best being a 15-point outing in MSU’s 60-point win over Portugal All-Stars, showing he could be a reliable scorer both in a starting and reserve role (more on that). 

So will freshman guard Josh Hubbard 

If you haven’t already, it is time to buy stock now in MSU’s talented true freshman.. 

Scoring came fairly easy for Hubbard, a four-star in MSU’s 2023 class, who averaged 16.3 points per game for the Bulldogs, scoring a team-high 12 in game No. 1 and adding a team-high 19 points with six assists in game two and a team-high 18 to finish things off on Wednesday.

There is a clear fluidity to Hubbard’s game, both when it comes to his shot and understanding of what to do and where to be. It may be enough for him to crack MSU’s starting lineup, if not early into this season, but at some point. 

Hubbard won’t be perfect. He will make mistakes just like every other true freshman transitioning into the college game. But he shows signs that he will be an immediate help to the Bulldogs this winter. 

Jimmy Bell Jr. could be strong off the bench 

Bell Jr. looks like he could be a productive bench forward for MSU this season. 

At 6-10, 285 pounds, Bell Jr. has the frame to compete inside against Southeastern Conference bigs. 

At times he used that size to overpower defenders in Portugal, burying a couple under the basket for easy layups. 

He finished with eight points off the bench in game No. 1. If MSU can get that from a guy that hasn’t averaged more than 4.8 points in three years at the Division I level, that would be a huge difference maker. 

MSU starting five likely set, but Jans experiments with lineups 

A benefit to these early scrimmages was Jans and his staff being able to experiment with different lineup combinations. 

In three games, MSU used three starting lineups:

Game 1: Hubbard, Shakeel Moore, DJ Jeffries, KeShawn Murphy, Tolu Smith 

Game 2: Taylor, Moore, Matthews, Bell Jr, Shawn Jones Jr. 

Game 3: Hubbard, Taylor, Jeffries, Matthews, Smith 

Returning all five starters from last season, MSU’s starting five could already be set. Maybe a guy like Hubbard is able to crack it as a true freshman. 

If anything, Jans got a glimpse of which lineup combinations can do certain things on the floor together. 

Justin Frommer is the Mississippi State sports reporter for The Dispatch.