Mississippi State basketball settling into roles and producing wins at the right time

A couple of weeks ago Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans repeated a phrase uttered by most coaches in February. Jans mentioned that you want to be playing your best basketball down the home stretch of the regular season.

Jans was quick to point out that time of the year had not arrived just yet. But fast forward to the present, that time to play your best basketball is here and the Bulldogs are doing just that.

On Saturday night Mississippi State put together one of its most complete games of the season and extended the winning streak to five games, the SEC’s longest current winning streak. Yes, Mississippi State has relied a lot on All-SEC center Tolu Smith and freshman sensation Josh Hubbard during most SEC games. But one of the top reasons for the recent success is several other players adapting to their role, and Jans and his staff have a healthy roster again.

Which has meant other guys becoming consistent scorers, which forces teams to spread their focus elsewhere instead of just on Smith and Hubbard. And there’s been several guys, of late, stepping up to the plate to help State become a more complete team.

Over the past eight games, senior guard Shakeel Moore is averaging 11.2 points a game. Fellow senior and forward Cameron Matthews has averaged just over 10 points and 8.3 rebounds over his last nine games. And since returning to the team, forward KeShawn Murphy has added a spark off the bench, and has averaged nine points and seven boards in his last three games.

But it’s also been Murphy’s work on the defensive end that has put a smile on Jans’ face.

“The trust I have for him is high,” remarked Jans of Murphy. “He is a willing defender. He has been really working on it. He has been receptive to what we are trying to do with him on the defensive side of the floor.”

Of course, it’s no secret that, defensively, Murphy was lacking in that area for most of his career. Offensive-wise, it is also evident the talent Murphy possesses and how much State benefits with him on the floor.

“He just gives us a different look when he is on the floor with his ability,” Jans added. “At 6-10, to play either the four, even the five, he can stretch the (defense) and it gives us another scorer out there. He is underrated with his drive ability, his passing ability. He really sees the floor.

“He keeps gettomg better on the defensive end and because of that, he is on the floor more. It has been really, really good, and he has been a shot in the arm for us the past five or six games.”

Of late, Jans has also tweaked the lineup, which has paid more dividends. In what Jans labeled as a situation between him and Smith, the past two games the Bulldogs have started Jimmy Bell at center with Smith coming off the bench. Bell started the first 13 games of the season while Smith was out with a preseason injury. But since the second SEC game of the season, Smith entered the starting lineup until this week.

Smith came off the bench in wins over Ole Miss and LSU, and responded well. In those two games Smith averaged 21.5 points and 7.5 rebounds while Bell also gave State quality minutes since re-entering the starting lineup.

But where the entire team, particularly in the backcourt, has taken another step forward is defensively. Yes, Jans has always prided his program on defense and that has been no different in Starkville. But that area was lacking early in the SEC slate, especially on the road.

But in the second half against Ole Miss and then on Saturday at LSU, that stingy Bulldog defense entered the picture again. Whether it is Rams Davis, Hubbard or Moore in the backcourt, they’re all getting the job done.

“I thought our ball pressure and our ability to guard the ball was good,” Jans said after Saturday’s win at LSU. “Everyone got into it and we just kind of kept them at bay. (LSU) is really good at getting to the rim. They lead the league in percentage of shots at the rim and that is something we really focused on coming into this week.

“Doing our work out front, doing our work on the ground, trying to avoid those situations if we could. I just felt like our guards were really doing a good job of getting to the ball, which allowed us to get out and run a little bit and open up a lead.”

Looking ahead, the road gets no easier for the Bulldogs and that has been the norm, for the most part, with this year’s SEC schedule. This week State is set to face two Top 15 teams in Kentucky (Tuesday) and Auburn (Saturday) before finishing up the regular-season schedule at Texas A&M and at home against South Carolina the following week.

With more success down the stretch and peaking at the right time of the season, the Bulldogs could make March Madness even more entertaining than last season.