STARKVILLE — The mood after Saturday’s home game against Ole Miss was a much-awaited one for Mississippi State, ending a three-game skid with a 64-54 win over the Rebels.
Humbling is one way to put how the first two games of SEC play went for the men’s team, losing to arguably the two best teams in the conference in Alabama and Tennessee.
However, it was much needed for a team that was able to face adversity for the first time all season. Now, coming off a big win against an in-state rival, it’s go time for MSU (12-3, 1-2 Southeastern Conference), taking on a fellow Bulldog program in Georgia (11-4, 1-1 SEC) at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in Athens.
Riding high off a 76-64 win over a ranked Auburn team last Wednesday, Georgia lost a tough road game against Florida during the weekend and will be just as hungry as MSU coming into Wednesday’s game.
“They’re off to a great start,” Mississippi State coach Chris Jans said. “Coach White and his staff have done a great job playing above national expectations. I’m sure it’s not above their own expectations. They’re just so solid in every way.”
“…They know who they are. They know where the ball needs to go and whose hands the ball needs to be in.”
Off the jump, Jans mentioned the offensive rebounding success of Georgia, something that’s allowed the Bulldogs to get off to an 11-4 start.
Despite being eighth in the conference in offensive rebounding, Georgia is 52nd in the country, averaging 12.2 offensive boards a game.
The forward play from UGA has been strong and complementary to a strong backcourt game, with Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe and Braelen Bridges, among others, holding down the fort in the middle.
It’s a straightforward plan for Mississippi State on Wednesday: control the boards and prevent second-chance opportunities.
“Certainly a big percentage of how they scored against Auburn was the putbacks,” Jans said. “…They’re really good at it. We pride ourselves on it as well and defensively, if I had to say the one area that we’re most disappointed with would be defensive rebounding.
“We won’t win the game on Wednesday if we allow Georgia to have a bunch of offensive rebounds.”
Wednesday begins a two-game stretch on the road for MSU, with a date against No. 21 Auburn following Saturday evening.
Mississippi State has seen some recent struggles in more true road games and playing on the road isn’t easy for anyone, especially against a great crowd in Athens.
This stretch would have been significantly more difficult with a loss on Saturday, but a 15-2 run midway through the second half shifted what was a seven-point Ole Miss lead to a six-point MSU lead.
Momentum swung in favor of the Bulldogs, and they retained it for the rest of the game.
“I would think that would galvanize them and give them confidence that we can beat good teams in this league,” Jans said. “Now we have to prove it away from home, which is much harder to do, but I think the way that we played on Saturday, they played for the most part the way we feel this particular team has to play.”
The battle of the Bulldogs tips off Wednesday evening as Mississippi State looks to start a winning streak and get back to .500 in conference play.
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