WATCH: Head coach Chris Jans talks Georgia Tech, first road test and practice schedule

After a few neutral-court experiences, Mississippi State is set for its first true road game – and only true road game – of the non-conference portion of the schedule. No. 21 Mississippi State (6-0) travels to Georgia Tech (2-2) Tuesday as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge with a 6 p.m. tipoff on the ACC Network.

On Monday morning Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans met with the media to discuss that matchup among other topics:

Q: After watching the film, your thoughts on how KeShawn Murphy and Jaquan Scott played in their return from injuries?
Jans: It was just nice to have KeShawn back in uniform and available. I think he played 10 minutes, had some good, some bad, a couple of uglies. He scored six points but had some silly passes. He is a very skilled passer but sometimes when guys have that skill they try to do too much. Definitely when you are coming back from that long of an injury, you like as a coach to tell them to kind of ease into it and make simple plays. It is easy to say but hard to do at times. It was just good to have him out there.

With Quan, same thing. It’s been awhile since he’s had live-game action. He is still getting comfortable with his injury and trusting it. It still bothers him and hopefully day by day he will get more comfortable with it.

Q: Your early impressions of Georgia Tech?
Jans: They’re coming off a tough road loss at Cincinnati and Cincinnati played very well. It was a hostile environment with a great crowd and it was their first road game of the year. The road is funny. Now they get to get home and regroup and prepare for a home game. This will be our first road test of the year and our only one in the non-league portion of our schedule. So it is a big game that way.

To go on an ACC floor on the road and to have the chance to compete with a team and beat a team like that is a good opportunity for us and that is kind of our mindset. But in terms of their particular team, they’ve got some veteran guys and they’ve got quite a few transfers that have been there, done that. From what I can see, they are still trying to figure each other out and how their parts work together.

But they’ve got plenty of talent. They’ve got great size. They are getting healthier and healthier as the season unfolds. They’ve got good rim protection. They’ve got the guy out front – (Miles) Kelly – that is putting up big numbers. He is averaging 18, 19 a game in a young season. They got other guys around him that are fully capable. So they have our full attention and we will try to be ready to play.

Q: With the first road test, how much did it help to play at Southern Miss in that exhibition to prepare for a home crowd?
Jans: You would think so. That is one of the reasons why we played it. We just don’t have a lot of true road tests in the fall until you get into SEC play. So we thought putting our guys in that situation would help us down the road and now it’s down the road and here we go. Time will tell. Just being able to travel and will leave after practice today. Been there, done that with neutral site games already in a tournament.

But it’s just different when you are going into someone else’s barn. I think we are going to take their best shot. Y’all know how it goes. Coming off a loss, the team seems to practice a little bit harder, the coaches are not happy and they are rallying the troops. We’ve been talking about that with our group to get them to understand how determined they are going to be and have a chip on their shoulder. We have to match or exceed that attitude.

Q: With a lot of games over a short period of time, how do you think your team has handled those early tests?
Jans: So far, so good. Obviously you can’t have a better record given how many games we’ve played. Certainly we’ve had ups and downs in each game. Like everybody across the country, we are still trying to find the right rhythm, the right pace, being able to play better longer. It’s like practice and I told them yesterday. Play like you practice and I truthfully believe in that. We’ve had stretches in practice where we looked really good and we’ve had some big lulls.

It’s just like our games. We got to be more consistent for longer periods of time if we want to be the team that we all want us to be. But again, so far, so good and looking forward to tomorrow.

Q: It was easy to see the offensive capabilities of Trey Fort during his recruiting process. Your thoughts on his defense and rebounding so far?
Jans: Like most new players and Trey is no different, we knew he could score the ball. He’s always done that, particularly shooting the basketball. He has that old-school jumpshot where it is hard to defend. He can get it off virtually against anybody because he gets off the ground and plays bigger than he is that way.

We knew there would be an adjustment and unfortunately, the guys don’t realize the adjustment and the expectations that are going to be for them when they arrive. He is a work in progress in other parts of his game. But a great sign was our last outing. He and I had a talk and when your jumpshot is not falling, how are you moving the needle? How are you helping our team? Why should you still be on the floor when your strength of shooting the basketball is not there on any given night?

You’ve got to be able to find something else to help our basketball team. And he had six rebounds, for of them offensive. He is very athletic and he is willing to stick his nose in there. Hopefully that is something he can build on. Defensively, he’s gotten a lot better. From the summer to now he’s gotten a lot better. His willingness to be a defender, his understanding of what we are trying to do, his knowledge of the scheme has gotten better.

Just like all of our guys, it is a work in progress. Hopefully last game where he didn’t shoot the ball very well, I think he was 1 for 7, but he did other things to show everybody that he’s not just a one-trick pony.

Q: Your thoughts on State hiring new football coach Jeff Lebby?
Jans: Congratulations to Coach Lebby and his family. I don’t know him personally but I definitely look forward to getting to meet him and his family. Wish him the best of luck.

Q: Georgia Tech has a couple of guys (Amaree Abram and Kowacie Reeves) you faced last year in the SEC. Do you scout them based on last year or more as Georgia Tech as a whole?
Jans: Definitely having that information from a scouting report, our staff would look back at what the profile was of them when we played them last year. Certainly using the new footage that’s available with the Georgia Tech team and how they’re fitting in and how they are providing for this new team. All of the information we are going to use to get to our team, our players so they know who they are facing individually and that will be the case all year long.

Q: You start getting more breaks in the schedule after Tuesday due to finals schedule and other things. Your thoughts on that?
Jans: I like the break. I like that we play Tuesday and then not have to play until Sunday. When you prepare for Nicholls, you got to work on zone offense a lot. So it takes away your rhythm on your man offense and that is just part of the deal. Yesterday and today we have focused primarily on playing man schemes, defensively. And then to have all that time again, more than normal, I am looking forward to it from a practice perspective to see if we can use that time to get better.

It is not like the Christmas break and that time off or the finals week and that time off. But it’s more than normal and I think we need that. I think we got to get back on the practice court have a ‘get better’ mantra and rally around that. Hopefully we can do that when we get back from Atlanta.