Chris Jans shares how basket malfunction impacted Mississippi State's momentum

Mississippi State appeared to have an injury plagued Tennessee squad on the ropes for most of the first half on Tuesday night before an ill-timed basket malfunction took the Bulldogs’ momentum and caused it to jump the tracks.

The two teams had to pause the action for about five minutes late in the first half, and Tennessee seemed to find some rhythm once play resumed, even without leading scorer Santiago Vescovi and guard Tyreke Key, who both missed the contest due to injury.

“We had a couple stretches where it really hurt us. The end of the first half, the game unfolded exactly the way we needed it to unfold,” Mississippi State coach Chris Jans said. “I feel like a broken record in terms of the score, the possessions, the feel, the command. They were having a hard time scoring against us. The crowd was into the game. And then we had the basket deal, and that happens all the time. A little adversity and they came out of there and I think it was 6-0 since that point in the game.

“That was a momentum swing for all of us.”

The two teams entered halftime tied at 23 apiece, but that deadlock was quickly swung in Tennessee’s favor in the second half.

The Volunteers made shots and got a terrific outing from point guard Zakai Zeigler, who led all scorers with 24 points, while also chipping in six rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Basket malfunction broke Mississippi State’s rhythm

Once the teams had halted play for a little while, Mississippi State’s early momentum in the contest seemed to fade.

Zeigler and company really settled in and started to take command.

“Then the second half there when it was back and forth, back and forth. Then all the sudden it was six, I think, 55-49 and I just felt like; we got it back to three once or twice then,” Jans said.

“But I mean a lot of credit’s got to go to Tennessee. They were men down. It was a golden opportunity for our program, for our team this year. It’s costly. It’s very costly. But man, they got some winning guys over there. I mean that point guard, Zeigler, 40 minutes. You wouldn’t have thought he played 40 minutes how hard he played all the way to the end and just running the team, defending. He just, he runs the show. And other guys stepped up when they needed them. To go 8-for-9 in the second half and 14-of-15 from the line, they did what they had to do to win the game.”

Now 1-5 in SEC play, Mississippi State will have to find a way to turn things around in a hurry if it hopes to entertain postseason aspirations.

The Bulldogs will be back in action on Saturday against Florida, with a home game set to tip off at 8:30 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.