Chris Jans explains confidence in Mississippi State ahead of NCAA Tournament

Mississippi State‘s SEC Tournament title hopes were cut short on Saturday after losing to eventual SEC Tournament champion Auburn 73-66 in their semifinal matchup.

Still on the NCAA Tournament’s bubble, the Bulldogs enter Selection Sunday at 21-13 overall after winning its first two games in Nashville. With their tournament bid not yet confirmed, head coach Chris Jans knows where his team needs to improve if they’re given the opportunity to go dancing.

“People talk about our defense. I cringe a little bit this season because from where I sit, I didn’t think it was quite the level that we wanted,” Jans revealed after the Auburn loss. “Even last year. … But our offense has improved a lot this year compared to last year. I don’t know if this is correct or not, but there’s a part of me that thinks because of that we scored the ball a little bit easier. We had some great halves, great games. We kind of thought maybe we could win games that way.

“We had the opportunity after the regular season to kind of regroup and actually have four days between games, with three of them being practices.”

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has Mississippi State slotted with fellow SEC Tournament semifinalist Texas A&M in the ‘Last Four Byes‘ category. With no more bid-stealing teams remaining, Lunardi is expecting the Bulldogs to enjoy a trip into the Round of 64 beginning on Thursday. In the latest update of Lunardi’s official bracket, the Bulldogs are expected to be a 9-seed in the East Region.

Regardless of wherever the committee ultimately slots Mississippi State, Jans feels as though the mission his team set out to accomplish was completed.

“Our sole focus was to kind of get back to the basic tenets of what we’re trying to do as a program,” Jans continued. “I thought we as a group took advantage of it, just our core defense, our principles, were better these three games than the majority of the games leading up to the SEC tournament.

“Hopefully that’s something that this team has learned. If we’re hopefully given another opportunity to play in post-season, we’ll get that on the floor, as well.”

Mississippi State will learn its NCAA Tournament fate along with everyone else at when CBS’ Selection Sunday special gets underway at 6 p.m. ET.