STARKVILLE — “It’s a real special time here in Starkville.”

Vic Schaefer knows the depth of that statement better than most. But the Mississippi State women’s basketball coach doesn’t hoard the attention or glory for spearheading one of the biggest transformations in recent memory in the sport. Instead, Schaefer often will credit associate head coach Johnnie Harris and assistant coaches Dionnah Jackson-Durrett and Carly Thibault, director of operations Maryann Baker, and director of scouting/video coordinator Skylar Collins, calling that group “the best staff in the country.”

Whether it has been recruiting, building grass roots support for the program, or instilling a tenacity in his players, the work Schaefer has directed has helped MSU reach uncharted heights in the national polls and has created a buzz around the program that hasn’t always existed.

At 6:30 tonight, Schaefer will try to record a milestone in that journey — his 100th victory with the Bulldogs — when No. 5 MSU (9-0) takes on Arkansas-Little Rock at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock, Arkansas. WKBB-FM 100.9 will broadcast the game live. It also will be available online at hailstate.com/plus, or on a premium video stream available through Little Rock’s website at lrtrojans.com/watch.

“Four years ago, this was a vision,” Schaefer said last week. “I knew what it looked like, but I am not sure anybody really felt like this is where we would be. I don’t know if (senior Breanna Richardson, who was sitting to his right) she really believed this is where we would be. I think she believed we would be good, but I don’t know that anybody envisioned No. 5 in the country. Well, we have gotten there, but is that enough?”

A win would make Schaefer the fastest women’s basketball coach in MSU history to reach 100 wins. In his first four seasons, MSU has improved in wins every season, going from 13 to 22 to 27 to 28. The Bulldogs have advanced to the NCAA tournament each of the past two seasons, including the program’s second trip to the Sweet 16 last season.

To put Schaefer’s accomplishment in perspective, Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma won 92 games in his first five seasons as coach. The Huskies were at a similar point in the evolution of their program when Auriemma was hired. UConn didn’t advance to the NCAA tournament until Auriemma’s fourth season at the school. The Huskies have went on to win a record 11 NCAA national titles.

Schaefer, who is on track to become the first MSU coach to lead the program to the NCAA tournament three-straight years, also is poised to win 100 games faster than former MSU women’s basketball coach Sharon Fanning-Otis, his predecessor, who won 79 games in her first five seasons. (For more perspective about Schaefer’s first five seasons at MSU, check the table.)

MSU, the last unbeaten team in the Southeastern Conference, will have to snap UALR’s four-game winning streak to help Schaefer reach his milestone. UALR has rebounded from a four-game losing streak that included setbacks to Green Bay, Oklahoma, Fordham, and Texas A&M to beat Saint Louis, Missouri State, Oral Roberts, and Memphis.

Coach Joe Foley’s team is averaging 49.8 points per game. It is allowing 52.6 ppg.

MSU is coming off a 72-50 victory against Southern Mississippi on Saturday in Hattiesburg.

“When you have that No. 5 on your back and on your chest, people are going to give you their best shot,” Schaefer said last week prior to his team’s game against Southern Miss. “What I have been excited about so far is I have seen our kids take it.”

Schaefer made the comment sitting with Richardson and junior Morgan William sitting with him in a news conference. He said both players likely would agree that the Bulldogs haven’t played their best basketball, even though he feels the team played pretty well in a victory against then-No. 8 Texas. Still, he said there have been stretches where he would like to see better from a team that returns all five starters from a program-best 28-win campaign in 2015-16.

Schaefer stressed that he wants his players to “live it” and to attack the challenge of being one of the nation’s top teams every day. He said building a program isn’t the hard part. He said keeping a program at an elite level is even harder.

William agreed, saying she didn’t think the Bulldogs have played consistently from the start to the finish. She said the team has played well one quarter and OK in the next.

Richardson, who graduated Friday, also agreed and said the Bulldogs will learn from the film, which Schaefer says “doesn’t lie,” to get better defensively and rebounding, areas Schaefer feels are critical to the team’s title hopes.

“I am surprised we are not as good defensively as I would like to be with a veteran team. I thought we would be better,” Schaefer said. “There are games where we are really good and games where we are really struggling, but when you play good people like we have and have really good coaches (going against us), they are figuring out ways to attack us.”

Following the game against UALR, MSU will prepare for a trip to Los Angeles, where it will play SMU at 10 p.m. Friday in the first round of the Women of Troy Classic. It will play Grambling State or USC at 1 or 3 p.m. Sunday. It then will close 2016 and its non-conference schedule with games against Alabama State (7 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 20) and Northwestern State (7 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 28) at Humphrey Coliseum

Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor

Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.