STARKVILLE — In his first two seasons at Mississippi State, Chris Jans was a combined 5-13 in the first half of Southeastern Conference play. But both times, the Bulldogs played better down the stretch, going 11-7 in the back half of the SEC schedule between 2023 and 2024.

This year, the SEC is as loaded as any conference has ever been in men’s college basketball, but MSU (16-6, 4-5 SEC) again hit the halfway point of its 18-game conference slate on a sour note. The Bulldogs headed into their midweek bye on the heels of a 27-point home loss to Missouri, their most lopsided defeat in Starkville since 2013.

“The experience can’t teach it,” Jans said Thursday. “It’s obviously helpful in a number of different situations, and hopefully it will be in this one, from the coaching staff and some of the players who have been through it. Unfortunately, just because that was the case in years past, we went on mini-runs in the second half to put ourselves in position (to make the NCAA Tournament) doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to happen again. You can’t just rely on that.”

Jans knew he would be sacrificing defense for offense this season with the personnel on his roster, but without an elite defender in the backcourt, MSU has struggled mightily to defend the 3-point line. Alabama and Missouri bombed away last week, going a combined 30-for-63 from behind the arc, and the Bulldogs have gone from the SEC’s best perimeter defense a year ago to the second-worst.

MSU fell to a No. 7 seed in ESPN’s latest bracket projections and needs to again play better in the second half of SEC play to avoid dropping further. The Bulldogs still have to play three top-10 teams in addition to a road game against rival Ole Miss, but the final three-game stretch against LSU, Texas and Arkansas looks manageable if MSU can get to that point without serious damage.

The bye also came at a fortunate time because an illness has been going around the team this week, causing several players to miss practice ahead of Saturday’s game at Georgia.

“It’s a long, grueling season and there’s a lot of mileage that’s put on all the players,” Jans said. “It becomes a tired game at times. On top of that, we’ve had the crud going through us a little bit, starting Saturday and Sunday. It’s bounced around a little bit. Fortunately we’ve been able to manage that better than we would have if we had a game to prepare for.”

Scouting Georgia

Few teams have played better on their home floor than Georgia (16-7, 4-6), which is 13-1 at Stegeman Coliseum. That includes a 13-point win over Kentucky in early January, and UGA’s only home loss was a two-point defeat against No. 1 Auburn. Georgia also has a neutral-site win over St. John’s that has kept aging better in recent weeks.

UGA could be a favorable matchup for MSU because Georgia attempts the fewest 3-pointers per game in the SEC. Georgia has had issues with ball security as well — only LSU turns the ball over more often among SEC teams than head coach Mike White’s Bulldogs.

“It’s going to take us playing one of our best games,” Jans said. “They’re playing with a lot of confidence, especially in their building. They’re not an over-complicated team. They just try to play fundamental, sound basketball. They’re very physical on both ends of the floor.”

Freshman Asa Newell, at 6 feet and 11 inches, is Georgia’s best all-around player, leading his team with 15.3 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. He will be a handful for Michael Nwoko and KeShawn Murphy, but MSU’s interior defenders also have to account for another 6-foot-11 freshman in Somtochukwu Cyril, who is second in the SEC in blocked shots per game despite playing just 15 minutes on average.

In the backcourt, Georgia is led by Silas Demary Jr., sharpshooting sixth man Dakota Leffew and sophomore Blue Cain, who came two assists shy of a triple-double Wednesday night in a win over LSU.

“It’s remarkable how mature (Newell) is as a basketball player,” Jans said. “He’s obviously developed physically and mentally, and he’s very skilled and very comfortable on the court. He’s made a huge impact for their program and for their team. They have a lot of good players, like everybody does in this league, but it starts with him at the top.”