STARKVILLE — Chris Jans has always tried to make sure his teams play with grit and intensity on defense, so a performance like the one Mississippi State delivered against Butler on Friday night left the head coach highly disappointed.

Butler made 52.8 percent of its field goals and was 12-for-22 from 3-point range, knocking MSU from the ranks of the unbeaten and the AP Top 25 with an 87-77 victory. Kentucky was the only team to shoot better than that against the Bulldogs last year, doing so in both meetings between the teams, and only Tennessee put up similar shooting numbers in 2022-23, Jans’ first season with the Bulldogs.

“We were awful on that end of the floor,” Jans said. “We just, for whatever reason, did not maintain our identity. The previous night against UNLV, we got our defense into the game from the jump and controlled the game because of our defense. Twenty-four hours later, we didn’t have the same approach as a team. I’m not sure why. I don’t understand why we didn’t, but we didn’t. It was a bad performance defensively.”

MSU (6-1) did not rotate well defensively against Butler and routinely left shooters wide open on the perimeter. In the second half, Jans’ team was slow to react to Butler’s penetration and gave opposing players easy driving layups.

Butler started slow, making three of its first 11 shots, but hit 14 out of 19 during an extended stretch that spanned the last six minutes of the first half and the first six-plus minutes of the second half.

“It always goes back to guarding the ball. Breakdowns that you see with open shots are normally attributed to something that happened earlier in that particular possession, and usually it’s because we had a breakdown on the ball,” Jans said. “That just can’t happen. It just can’t happen for us to have a successful season. We have to remain true to who we are and why we win.”

MSU did not shoot well enough to overcome its defensive woes, finishing 7-for-27 from behind the arc. Despite winning the turnover battle decisively and holding a sizable edge in paint points, steals and fast-break points, State never led over the final 26 minutes, and Butler answered every MSU run with one of its own.

“Basketball, like a lot of sports, it’s doing the same thing over and over and over. It’s not as glamorous as people think it is,” Jans said. “If you’re not willing to buy into that or understand that, and you get bored with it, mistakes happen.”

Scouting Pittsburgh

After four games away from Humphrey Coliseum, the Bulldogs are back in Starkville on Wednesday night to battle the No. 18 Panthers (7-1) as part of the ACC-SEC Challenge. Pittsburgh has looked impressive so far, routing West Virginia at home and most recently outlasting Ohio State on the road in overtime. The Panthers’ lone loss was against an undefeated Wisconsin team by six points at a neutral site.

Pittsburgh is fifth in the initial NET rankings, released Monday, so MSU has a huge opportunity to earn a Quadrant 1 win that is likely to age well as the postseason approaches.

“They have a really good basketball team,” Jans said. “They just seem to fit together. You watch them on tape, it starts with their backcourt. The guys they have out there are just really good players. They have size and they have experience and they work together really well.”

Ishmael Leggett leads the Panthers with 18.4 points per game, while Jaland Lowe is not far behind at 16.6. Cameron Corhen and Damian Dunn also average double-figure scoring, with 7-footer Guillermo Diaz Graham rounding out the starting lineup.

The stakes will not be quite as high as the last time the Bulldogs played Pittsburgh — in the 2023 NCAA Tournament First Four, a one-point win for the Panthers — but it will be MSU’s toughest test so far and easily its biggest game yet at home.

“It’s an awesome opportunity for us coming off our last game,” Jans said. “Couldn’t draw it up any better to have a chance to play against such a good team, especially at home. It will be a challenge.”