STARKVILLE — Chris Jans acknowledged after Mississippi State’s loss to Southern on Sunday that the defeat will stick out on the Bulldogs’ résumé like a sore thumb for the rest of the season. But with so much basketball still to be played, the important thing for Jans and company is to not let it define them.
“There’s a lot that goes into winning. It was a big upset, (but) if you pay attention to college basketball, in November and December, they happen quite often,” Jans said Tuesday. “Certainly multiple in every week. That’s not to try to make us feel better, because you don’t want it to happen to your team and our program, but it does. It goes to show how hard winning is. People sometimes like to take it for granted, and I understand that, but it’s hard.”
With MSU (6-2) in the midst of a weeklong break between games for final exams, the team had Monday off before returning to practice Tuesday. The focus on academics could be a welcome break for the Bulldogs, but Jans emphasized the importance of responding mentally and psychologically from the loss to the Jaguars.
MSU had a 96.9 percent chance to beat Southern when the game started, according to ESPN Analytics, and the Bulldogs’ win probability sat at 97.3 percent when they led by 11 points with four and a half minutes remaining. The 17 turnovers they committed — constituting 27 percent of their possessions — were a huge part of MSU’s undoing.
“Our turnover percentage, it’s become an Achilles heel for us in a lot of the games. Certainly against Southern, it was the main reason why we lost the game,” Jans said. “That was the one area that seems to continue to haunt us the most. We’ve been poor at it for the majority of the year.”
Leadership starts at the top
Jans pushed back on the theory that player-led teams are necessarily better than coach-led teams, saying that players who are not working hard every day and showing a willingness to be coached will have a hard time commanding respect from their teammates.
Cameron Matthews, he said, has been a vocal leader, as has Tolu Smith. But Jans said it has been hard for Smith to come down on his teammates and set the tone due to the foot injury that has kept him in street clothes for every game so far.
Even with the loss, the Bulldogs still have all of their preseason goals ahead of them and checked in at No. 40 in the latest NET rankings heading into Saturday’s game against Tulane in Atlanta.
“(The Southern game) is not going to keep us out of the NCAA Tournament or have anything to do with where we end up in the Southeastern Conference race,” Jans said. “That’s one of the things I’m going to talk to the team about today. I’m not happy, nobody’s happy, our fan base is not happy… but in my opinion, this will have little to do with (whether) we go to the NCAA Tournament or what our seed will be.”
Scouting Tulane
The Green Wave (6-1) have steadily improved each year under Ron Hunter, who arrived in New Orleans after taking Georgia State to the NCAA Tournament three times in five years. Tulane won just four American Athletic Conference games in each of Hunter’s first two seasons, but climbed to fifth place in 2022 and third last year, when the Green Wave finished 20-11 overall.
Tulane’s only loss this season was a three-point, neutral-site defeat against Bradley on Nov. 20, and two days later the Green Wave picked up a high-major win by beating California 84-81. Hunter’s team is averaging 88.4 points per game, which ranks 10th in all of Division I basketball, and Tulane is fourth in the country in field goal percentage at 53.1 percent.
That dynamic offense is also among the country’s more balanced attacks, with all five starters averaging at least 11 points per game. Kevin Cross leads the Green Wave with 19.5 points per contest, including a season-high 24 against the Golden Bears. But Sion James, Kolby King and Collin Holloway are all contributing between 14 and 15 points on average, with Holloway coming off back-to-back 20-plus point games.
“They’re a unique team. A lot of medium-sized guys with real strong, athletic builds,” Jans said. “They play a lot of five-out, they really play fast, they score early. They’re known as a 3-point shooting team, but really their strength this year is their 2-point field goal percentage and their ability to score fast. And then they play that zone (defense) which can be tough to play against, so we’ll have our hands full.”
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 28 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 28 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