WATCH: Head coach Chris Jans talks schedule break, Shak Moore's confidence and Gai Chol

Coming off a 2-0 week, Mississippi State gets a nice break in the SEC schedule this week and it couldn’t come at a better time. Still trying to get a couple of injured players back on the court, the Bulldogs do not have a midweek contest and will return to action Saturday against Arkansas with a 1 p.m. tipoff at Humphrey Coliseum.

Mississippi State is 16-8 overall and 5-6 in the SEC. Meanwhile, the Razorbacks are 12-11 overall and 3-7 in the league heading into Wednesday’s home game against Tennessee.

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

Q: Your thoughts on the play of Dashawn Davis last week?
Jans: I think he is best when he’s playing on-ball defense. It starts there, in my opinion, with him. When he is revved up and he’s out front and getting into that ball and dictating how that possession, how that catch is going to go, it is something we talk about a lot with our team and especially him, he is different that way. He is so physical on the ball, quick and strong, and has very good hands.

When he is doing that, I feel like his overall game falls into place. He is more aggressive on offense when he plays defense like that. That’s what we’ve been seeing the last couple of games and he’s playing the way we feel like he needs to play for this particular team. He’s been coming off the bench and giving us a spark on both ends of the floor.

We are more physical when he’s on the court. Now with the injury situation, we play three guards with Shak (Moore) and (Josh) Hubbard a little bit, that lineup obviously is not as lengthly as other lineups. But it gives us a different look and we really like it on both ends of the floor. As long as they are rebounding and we need those guys rebounding when they are out there together. We like where Rams is at and hopefully he will continue to play well.

Q: Against Missouri, when Shakeel Moore made his fourth 3 pointer he turned around and looked at the bench before the ball went through the net. Did you see that happen live and your thoughts on his confidence?
Jans: Yeah I didn’t see it at the time, which I am glad for the both of us that I didn’t (laughing). But I did see it on the computer and I called my wife and said you got to see this. She didn’t know about it either. But that is about as confident as you can get and you make that kind of move, that ball better go through the net if you do something like that.

I’ve been saying it for weeks now that I love where he’s at. I love his mental approach to practice. He’s been very consistent. His focus has been better, really high level. Now his shot, I made the comment post-game that I was telling the coaches that I was hoping Shak gets his shooting in practice into the games because he’s been shooting so well in practice. Like he rarely misses leading up to the game.

Fortunately, it did for him that particular game. Sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes you will have a good couple of days and for whatever reason it doesn’t click during the game. But for Shak it did and hopefully that confidence will stay there for awhile.

Q: We saw guys like Tolu Smith, Cam Matthews and DJ Jeffries go crazy in the Missouri game when Gai Chol scored late. What’s that mean to you to see the veterans reacting like that to Chol?
Jans: Tolu is playing with a lot of joy right now. If you really watch him, he’s smiling a lot out there. He’s been more vocal with our players in practice and in the huddles on game days. And rightfully so. He should be and this is his last go-around and he is trying to soak it all up. He wants to win as much or more than anybody that we have in that locker room. You can just sense it, see it, hear it. He is enjoying it and not putting all this pressure on himself or on our team. He is doing it in the right vein.

Then a guy like Gai Chol that he has to go against every single day has a moment like that, for him to lead the cheers is pretty cool. So yeah, it was a fun moment for all of us.

Q: Tolu has talked about wanting to come back and have a legacy here. How much of an impact does that have on a young player like Gai Chol?
Jans: I remember in the fall talking to Gai and talking to our coaches, he’s going against Jimmy Bell and Tolu Smith every day. What a baptism in to college basketball for a young kid coming straight out of high school and that’s who you are going up against in June, July, August and for the whole year. I told our staff that when Gai writes his book this is going to be a big chapter of how he was baptized into college basketball and who he had to go against.

But for his growth, who knows where his career is going to go, we have big plans for him. We are big believers in Gai and his future. I really believe this year has allowed him to grow more than he normally would because of who he is playing with and playing against in practice. Not just because of their size and ability but because of the types of guys they are.

They treat him with great respect even though they are going at him every day and it’s competitive. But they are so willing to talk to him, help him and be there for him. It’s not like they are looking down on him or anything like that. It’s been really cool to watch it unfold since this season began.

Q: We also saw freshman Adrian Myers score late in the game against Missouri. How has his development been?
Jans: Yeah I just grabbed him last week in practice and told him I know you are not getting the minutes that you want and I am glad that you want the minutes but keep working. You are getting better. You are getting better and our whole team notices it. He’s gotten more run in practice when we go 5 on 5 because of injuries so now he is on the floor all the time. So he is in front of us all the time whereas before when we had DJ (Jeffries) and Trey (Fort), he got in there but not nearly as much because of the obvious.

Because of that he is trying to show everybody that hey, I can play, too, and I’ve been working behind the scenes on my body and doing extra work. We decided a long time ago that we wanted him to have a different plan because of not getting the game minutes. We felt like he could ramp it up in the weight room and try to change his body and get quicker, faster, stronger and all those things they work on.

But he is an offensive threat. Everyone that has watched us play or practice knows that he can really score the ball. It is everything else that he is trying to learn and pick up but he’s got a bright future.

Q: With other guys like Shak Moore scoring, how much pressure does that take off of Josh Hubbard‘s shoulders?
Jans: I don’t know for sure but I don’t think that Josh probably even thinks about that. He probably wants more shots, to be honest with you, like most players on the court. But I know from a coaches’ perspective, having more guys on the court that other teams have to pay attention to certainly opens things up for everyone else. Not just for Josh but even for the big guys around the basket. When there’s more perimeter threats the spacing gets better on the court and they can’t double them and things of that nature. Shak’s recent emerging and coming out and being that guy that is third on the scouting report certainly helps everybody.

Q: How much does last week and that success help with the team’s confidence moving forward?
Jans: Confidence is an interesting thing. It comes and goes. Sometimes it stays longer and sometimes it doesn’t, individually and collectively. Cerrtainly when you are getting that kind of feedback, which are wins, it makes everybody feel better, bonds grow deeper, confidence in each other, confidence in us all grows. Obviously everyone says it. You want to be playing your best down the stretch. You want to be playing your best ball of that particular season down the stretch. I wouldn’t say we are at our stretch but it’s peaking and is around the corner. Hopefully that is something this particular team will do.

Q: How was it getting KeShawn Murphy back on the court last week?
Jans: Yeah that was great timing for our team with DJ going down and KeShawn making his return. We had a lot of talks about what we were going to do, rotational-wise, if (Murphy) wasn’t ready to go and what that would mean for us. You couldn’t have picked a better time for us to come back and to do it so well.

He scored the ball, which it is no secret this team has struggled with at times on that end of the floor. To have another scoring option, especially with that kind of size and skill set and ability to play multiple positions, really helps this basketball team. Certainly, the confidence we just talked about, his is very high. KeShawn has a lot of confidence in his ability. He can score the ball, he can pass the ball, he understands how to play offense. His defensive performance was much better against Missouri than it was against Georgia. We are just happy to have him back.

Q: Any update on Trey Fort and DJ Jeffries?
Jans: I haven’t seen them today. We are going to practice this afternoon. Neither one of them has been on the practice court. Now, Trey is out there but he really doesn’t do anything with his injured hand. So he really doesn’t do much of anything in terms of practice. No physical contact at all. He’s in a practice uniform but he’s not really available for practice and neither one of them have been available yet.

So they still have steps in their progression. I would say it’s a maybe on both of them for Saturday. As we get closer we will know if they are available or not. I don’t think it will be a game-time decision and hopefully we know before then. But they’ll both have to make some steps headed in that direction the next couple of days.

Q: Not just for the injured guys but how big is the open date this week for everyone else?
Jans: This off week is awesome for everybody. When I saw it on the schedule I said oh man, that is going to be great. Now that we are at the start of that, it is more than that. We all need it. We all need just a mini-break and kind of destress a little bit and not have to turn around like you always do and prepare for the next one.

I don’t think our particular break couldn’t have come at a better time. Obviously with the injuries, we timed that well to actually have a couple of days to hopefully get those guys for another game rather than have to miss another game. And just where we are at. We won a couple of games, got the road win, everybody’s feeling good. So we go into this week not feeling like man, I wish we were playing Wednesday to get this taste our of our mouth and to have that going on.

But we are certainly going to use it to our advantage, too. We are going to get after it today, probably practice a little longer than we normally would on a Monday if we had a game on Wednesday. Really work on us, totally, do a lot of skill development, conditioning. Then we will tear it back a little bit on Tuesday and won’t go nearly as long and then Wednesday we will be off altogether. That will be a really good day for everybody and hopefully on Saturday we will feel really good about where we are at.

Q: Arkansas is another team with a lot of length. Your thoughts on them?
Jans: I’m not in too deep with them but I’ve certainly seen them play like our other SEC opponents. I know they are not having the season they want in terms of wins and losses. But I know there’s not going to be any give-up with their staff. They are going to be ready to go. They got a lot of talent. Their roster is back to being close to full strength. They just had a nice win on Saturday and I don’t know who they play Wednesday. But we just got to be ready to go on Saturday when 1 (p.m.) hits.