State set for huge road test against Georgia Tech with Wednesday's SEC/ACC Challenge
It’s been a new team for Sam Purcell this season, but the coach is pleasantly surprised with the product that has been shown to this point.
Despite all of the new faces, Mississippi State has found a way to an 8-0 start to the season in women’s basketball. The identity continues to grow for the State offense, but the defense has been fierce through the eight-game stretch.
As the Bulldogs head into another important week of hoops, they do so with a top 10 defense. State is No. 1 in the country in field goal percentage defense (28.3%) and points per game (45.9), No. 8 in 3-point defense (21.4%), No. 9 in rebounding margin (+14.6) and rebounds per game (46.1) and No. 17 in scoring margin (30.5).
Purcell’s coaching history suggest he’s always taken pride of the defensive side, but the coach has taken a little from a guy down the hall from him as well.
“I’m going to give a shoutout to Chris Jans. I go over there all the time, and that guy is a legend. What a great mentor. He’s perfect for culture,” Purcell said Monday night on MSU’s Dawgtalk program. “I lean in his office and ask him what he’s doing. What makes his guys so tough, I try to take some of those same things and my women are buying in.”
Road trip has helped new Bulldog team grow quickly
State’s team has spent the last couple of weeks away from Humphrey Coliseum and that continues over the course of most of the month. After destroying Jacksonville in the WBCA Showcase in Orlando, State had to win two hard-fought games in the Cayman Islands.
The Bulldogs saw a 24-point lead vanish in the second half against a 2023-24 NCAA Tournament team in Utah, but big plays in the final minute had State finding a way to win a 66-62 game. Utah knocked off No. 3 Notre Dame just a couple of days later and showed just how important that win was.
The following day, the Bulldogs played on short rest against a fresh South Florida team. After trailing in the game, State again made the plays down the stretch to win in a 59-52 affair. It would be two big wins that State can hold on to the rest of the year.
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“We need as much of that as early as we can because we don’t know who is going to take the shot for us right now. We don’t know how we’re going to respond because we don’t have a lot of returning experience,” Purcell said. “That was a priceless tournament. It makes me feel really good about how special the season could be.”
Those wins now set the Bulldogs up for another big week ahead. State travels to Atlanta on Wednesday night to take on Georgia Tech in a clash of undefeated teams on the doorstep of the top 25.
Last season, the Bulldogs obliterated Georgia Tech 81-47 inside the Hump in the first round of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament. It’s a much different team this time around for coach Nell Fortner and Purcell doesn’t expect anywhere close to the same results.
“It’s going to be an absolute war. They’ve got a team that returns everybody from a team that we beat by 40. She did a great job of signing a top 15 recruiting class to come along with everybody returning. It’s going to be a great opportunity for us,” Purcell said. “When you look at statistics, we’re very similar. No matter what occurs in this game, it’s going to be great for our resume and to see where we’re at.”
Georgia Tech debuted in the first NET rankings at No. 26 while the Bulldogs were No. 22 and a win for either team could propel them inside the top 25 in the regular rankings as well. Game time on Wednesday night is set for 6:15 p.m. CT with the broadcast on ACC Network.
