State looking to find itself in Nashville as tournament run begins

NASHVILLE – It’s not to the point where the next loss will be the last for the Mississippi State Bulldogs, but the mindset has shifted as the SEC Tournament begins.

The Bulldogs went through a similar dry spell as a team heading into this tournament last year and then ran off back-to-back wins to make it to the conference semifinals. It was a team that saw a switch flip after four-straight losses to end the regular season and the sense of urgency came out at the right time.

This year, State enters Wednesday night’s matchup with LSU having lost four of the last five games. Three of those losses came to teams that are on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament and the last two against those squads were games that went down to the wire. For Chris Jans, the idea is pretty simple as the Bulldogs are trying to get back on track before the NCAA Tournament.

“Win games. That’s the mantra, that’s the goal and win as many games as we can. Does that mean we are playing on Sunday? Hope so. But we want to just focus on LSU and winning that basketball game,” Jans said. “Then we will have plenty of time to prepare to win the next game against Missouri if we’re successful in the first game. It’s tried and true. We are going to focus on what we can control and right now that’s our preparation for LSU.”

 The Tigers are the first on the docket and State is matched up with LSU for the second time in as many years. Last season, MSU won 70-60 to advance to the Quarterfinals. State is playing this year on day one of the tournament and it’s the second time this season that State and LSU have met.

It’s just two weeks since the two squads faced off at Humphrey Coliseum and the Bulldogs overcame a slow start to win 81-69. Jans said he likes playing a team on a relatively quick turnaround as both are fresh on the other’s mind.

The coach’s main focus is getting his team back on track. They’ve done that most of the year after a couple of losses in a row and they’ll need to do it again.

“They are resilient from what I see and hear. From the time I get to spend with them, they’ve got a good vibe. They like each other,” Jans said of his team. “We’re all human and when things don’t go the way we want them for us, individually, unfortunately, for young people it stunts them a little bit. It gets them off track. We’ve had some of that and I’m sure every team has had some of that in the middle of games when we’re all trying to achieve one singular goal at that time, which is to win.”

Through ups and downs, Bulldogs still have a chance for a run at madness

It’s been a trying season at times for State (20-11, 8-10 SEC), but the Bulldogs all but clinched a berth in the Big Dance weeks ago. For the last two seasons, that wasn’t the case as State entered the SEC Tournament still on the bubble.

It’s a testament to the resume that the Bulldogs had built in non-conference and some conference wins that have helped seal it up as well. The potential has been shown throughout the season, but State’s struggles defensively have been an underlying issue. It’s something that has been a constant battle by Jans and the players are hoping to respond positively.

“We’ve been having our ups and downs this season. Personally, I think our minds are right and we’re ready for this game coming up,” center Michael Nwoko said. “Jans has made a big difference in the practices. He’s picked it up a whole lot more and that’s going to make a difference when we get out there.”

State enters the game surrendering 74.2 points per game and has struggled to defend the three at 37% this year. Conversely, three-point shooting has also been an issue for State’s offense with the Bulldogs shooting just 31% and both of those stats are among the worst in the league.

The Bulldogs still have a second-team All-SEC selection in Josh Hubbard with his 18.3 points and 3.3 assists per game. They also have one of the top defenders in the country in Cam Matthews who has been a Swiss Army Knife.

After putting up 92 points in a loss at Arkansas, the Bulldogs continue to show that promise on the offensive end. Jans is waiting for the defense to come alive at the right time and the team will be in business. The joy of March is the madness that tends to come with it and State is ready to join in on the fun.

“I haven’t lost any faith in this group. We’re disappointed with some of the results we’ve had down the stretch. But what everyone doesn’t see is their attitude when they get back to work, get back to together, get back on the practice court,” Jans said. “I don’t think they’ve lost any confidence in what we’re doing. I don’t think they’ve lost any confidence in themselves or our team. Now we just have to go prove it.