Mississippi State is excited for 'great opportunity' at home versus Kentucky

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USATSI_22583003 — (Photo by Pitre Thomas, USA Today)

Kentucky recorded arguably its best win of the season on Saturday for the second weekend in a row. However, the Wildcats did not respond great in the mid-week last time out following a road win over Auburn. That led to a disappointing road loss against LSU. John Calipari’s team will be looking to avoid the same result this week.

Only this time the game is coming against a better opponent.

Mississippi State has won five consecutive SEC games and just went on the road and beat LSU by 20. At 19-8 (8-6), second-year head coach Chris Jans has the Bulldogs on the right side of the bubble for the second season in a row. State could lock up an at-large bid this week with a win over Kentucky.

The former New Mexico State head coach knows how big this opportunity is for the Mississippi State program.

“It’s Kentucky. Everybody gets excited,” Jans said in his postgame press conference after the win over LSU on Saturday night. “I know our fans will be excited. We’re going to have a rocking ‘Hump. It’s just a great opportunity for us.”

Mississippi State currently sits inside the top 30 in the NET rankings and owns a 3-5 record in Quad 1 games. Another win would go a long way. Kentucky is inside the top 20 in the NET rankings with a 5-5 record in Quad 1 contests. Both teams will get another Quad 1 opportunity on Tuesday night in Starkville.

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“Certainly, it’s a quick turnaround. Saw the score that Kentucky had today and, obviously, they handled us very easily at their place,” Jans said. “So hopefully our guys will be super motivated.”

In the last meeting, Kentucky rolled up 90 points on Jan. 17 and built a 20-point lead with under a minute left in the first half. The Wildcats shot a scorching 74.2 percent on 31 two-point shot attempts against a top-15 Mississippi State defense. Will we see another offensive explosion from UK on Tuesday?

Only time will tell, but Kentucky will be facing an NCAA Tournament team playing its best basketball of the season. The Cats must player better than last week to build some momentum heading into March.