Chris Jans shares his halftime message during Ole Miss game

Mississippi State trailed Ole Miss 44-40 at halftime on Wednesday. However, the Bulldogs bared their teeth in the second-half, pulling away with a comfortable 83-71 victory. After the game, MSU head coach Chris Jans revealed his message to his team at halftime.

“That’s what I was talking about at halftime with our staff, that we can’t guard these guys,” Jans said. “It was frustrating, that’s what we pride ourselves on. In the second half, I thought a few things happened. I thought Cam Matthews set the tone defensively with some big plays, hustle plays.

“Then, the crowd got into the game. Our kids fed off the crowd. It was loud. They were into the game and certainly you want your guys to play hard all the time. But, that’s no secret that urges them on even more. I thought Rams Davis was unbelievable defensively with his hands and just his activity, and a lot of guys were.”

Mississippi State has shown stellar defense this season. The team only allows 67.5 points per game, the fourth-least in the SEC. In the second half, the Bulldogs only gave up 27 points to Ole Miss.

Matthews and Davis combined for six steals. In the win, Mississippi State squeezed 17 total turnovers out of the Rebels and scored 21 points off their mistakes. Jans believes the second-half shift was due to an improved focus, not improved game plan.

“The biggest difference, like I said, was Cam setting the tone and we just really locked down and got in stances and defended them,” Jans said. “We didn’t make any major changes with our structure, they just got some stops and got more confident.”

This one was personal for Mississippi State

The win was a slice of revenge for Mississippi State, who had fallen to Ole Miss 86-82 on Jan. 30. With the win, the Bulldogs have officially surpassed the Rebels in the SEC standings. Following the win, Chris Jans didn’t deny the personal nature of the matchup.

“No one wants to get swept by your rivals. Our only chance was to split this year after getting beat at their place,” Jans said. “It’s something we talked about. One of the three things that we talked about, from a program perspective was, it was a rivalry game. Everybody talks about it. I’ve been here long enough to really understand how meaningful it is to both fan bases. It’s a big deal.

“Certainly, I’ve coached long enough to be in a bunch of rivalries in series and I get all that, but it was important. We have a bunch of Mississippi kids on our roster and for them to be able to have that for the rest of their lives is a big deal.”