WATCH: Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans talks injuries, Nicholls and Bulldogs' confidence

For the second straight season, No. 25 Mississippi State is off to an undefeated non-conference start under head coach Chris Jans. Last weekend the 5-0 Bulldogs knocked off Washington State and Northwestern to capture the Basketball Hall of Fame Classic event in Connecticut.

After a needed break, the Bulldogs return to action Friday at 1 p.m. against Nicholls at Humphrey Coliseum. On Tuesday Jans met with the media to discuss that next challenge among other topics:

Q: Coming off the tournament championship and getting ranked, how is your team’s focus going into this week’s game?
Jans: I haven’t seen them since we got off the bus Sunday night after returning from Connecticut. Mood was great. We accomplished our goal. We up there, won a trophy, won a championship. That is what we talked about prior to leaving and then actually during the tournament. We had a much-needed day off yesterday to regroup and take care of their business, academically, with the short week and make sure we tidy up all of that that we need to do. We will have a fresh set of legs and minds out here this afternoon and we will regroup and start getting ready for the next game.

Q: How much did it help the confidence of your younger guys to win that tournament and be part of that?
Jans: Again, you would have to ask them. I can’t imagine it was nothing but a positive experience for them to be part of a team that won a championship. Certainly, it was a smaller goal of ours each and every year when we are in one of those tournaments. It is a tournament format rather than a classic format where it’s pre-determined opponents and where you have a chance to play in that tournament-type of atmosphere, which I prefer because it doesn’t happen until the end of the year if we are fortunate enough to play the postseason. So it is hard to simulate. I think it can only be a positive thing for us.

Q: Any updates on the return of Jaquan Scott and KeShawn Murphy?
Jans: Jaquan has been day to day. Probably could have played Sunday in an emergency situation but really didn’t want to put him out there when he wasn’t fully confident. But he is day to day. I can’t imagine he won’t be at least that or better by Friday. It just takes some time with the injury he sustained.

KeShawn is still diligently doing his rehabbing with our trainer and has been unbelievable with the hours he has put in. I will get more of an update this afternoon with him.

Q: I know you didn’t get to see it as much as you hoped initially. But how were those practice battles between Jimmy Bell and Tolu Smith before Tolu was injured?
Jans: It was fun to watch. Talking about two experienced veterans, big dudes going at one another. They did it in such a respectful way. I think both of them knew once they got a feel for one another that they were going to get along well and that they could make each other better. Even though it was competitive, it was from a respectful vantage point.

Certainly disappointed with the situation that happened with Tolu that they couldn’t continue to do that. Hopefully come January that won’t be the case anymore. I guess it was fun while it lasted.

Q: With the 5-0 start, do you think that gives your team confidence going into these next few games?
Jans: Time will tell. You would think so on face value. It’s something we talked a lot heading into the first game of the tournament that I wanted them to play with that confidence. They were in this room for a reason. I had a lot of faith in them. I wanted them to play with confidence in themselves and at the same time play with confidence as a group, as a unit, and have that trust that connects great teams that happens over time.

I felt, for the most part, we did that over the weekend. How that moves us forward, time will tell. But you would think it would be something with some of the newer guys would feel good about. Not just in their own games but even with trusting what we are trying to do. What we are trying to do with our program with our schemes and asking them to do on a daily basis.

Sometimes when they get into games and the results come and you show them on video that it does work. Sometimes it sounds crazy what we are asking you to do where it is more new to them. Everyone raises their eyebrows at new sometimes and change. When it works you are fortunate and lucky because the buy-in becomes even better.

Q: How different is this year’s start compared to last year’s start?
Jans: Haven’t thought about it. Last season is over and certainly every game, every year you get experience from it as you go forward. But particular to that question, it really hasn’t crossed my mind.

The difference this year is the injuries. We’ve had to retool how we play. I kept saying that in the fall that the only silver lining was that we had time. We had all that time to tinker lineups and figure out how we needed to play without an All-SEC proven guy around the basket that we had played offense through. So that was the silver lining.

Our staff has done an unbelievable job of coming up with ideas of how we need to play on both ends of the floor and the guys that are healthy getting into the game.

Q: Andrew Taylor only played 25-30 seconds in the tournament. For a guy who averaged 20 points at Marshall last year, how is he adjusting to this level?
Jans: What he did at Marshall is irrelevant to us. It’s a new year, new program. Basketball is a marathon. Basketball seasons are longer than most if not all college sports’ seasons. So there’s a lot of ups and downs to most seasons, individually, collectively. We will see how the season unfolds. There’s a lot of time to have opportunities to get in there and prove yourself. I know he will have opportunities going forward.

Q: With that tournament, how do you feel your team handled playing on back to back days?
Jans: The falling behind early (to Northwestern) was not a lot of fun. I felt deja vu as I witnessed it the day before when they pounced on Rhode Island and it was 22-2 right away. That went through my brain and said ‘hey dummy, call a timeout’. Let’s not let it get out of control and that’s not my nature, to be honest with you. I am not sure I would have (called timeout) if I had not witnessed it happen the day before. I am glad I had that experience even though when I called timeout it as 8-0 and became 11-0 and then became 15-3. So it is not as if it really turned the tide.

But watching tape, we just didn’t play well the first 10-12 minutes of the game. A lot of credit needs to go to Northwestern and they did. We were a little flat, defensively, and they are going to see and hear about that today. I was more surprised when I watched the film than I was in person of how we just didn’t play well. We were casual in passing and catching, had a ton of turnovers the first 10-12 minutes of the game that were the majority unforced.

We just didn’t have the same bite to us, defensively, and that’s disappointing. Certainly glad they were able to turn it around and get some momentum heading into the halftime. Eventually, I thought towards the late stages of the game that our speed and our quickness out front wore them down a little bit and their 3 pointers were off a little bit down the stretch for them. But the start of the game is something we need to talk about.

Q: We saw Josh Hubbard make some crucial shots down the stretch in those tournament games. Did you see that kind of mentality or edge to him during the recruiting process?
Jans: I guess you score 4,000 points (in high school) I imagine he’s hit some big shots a lot. I haven’t watched all of his high school games. I was only around for his senior year. I’ve said all along you don’t really know the recruits until they become your players, until you are with them on a daily basis and you get underneath them of how they tick, what they are all about. Certainly, you try to figure it out during the recruiting process. But there’s nothing like being a member of a team for months or years at a time to get an understanding of what they are really about.

I’ve said it many times already. He’s all about the right stuff. He’s got an unbelievable work ethic. He’s got a poised presence about him that’s mature beyond his years. He’s just got that ‘it’ factor to him and he’s shown everybody. I don’t think our players are surprised. If you pay attention you can tell they respect him because of how excited they get for him when he makes a big shot or goes on a big run. So it’s been a big shot in the arm for us.

Q: Nicholls gave a pretty good scare to your team last year and won at LSU earlier this year. Your thoughts on them?
Jans: Different team, different coach, different style. If our kids can’t get ready to play Friday afternoon with what you just described with the win over LSU and the scare they gave us last year, we have enough information to present to them to have their attention. When you come off playing back to back Power 5 teams and winning like we did, you could see them being flat. It’s our job to make sure they’re not, especially this early in the season.

But they are a really good basketball team. They’ve had the big win, they’re very athletic, they’re long, they play really hard. But it is going to be a challenge for us. We are going to see a lot of zone more than likely. They play a matchup type zone that is similar to what Southern Miss ran against us. So we’ve had a little bit experience against us. But it is going to be a good matchup for us.

Q: With the number of guards you have, how are you dealing with those minutes?
Jans: It’s a work in progress. It is nice to have options when you stand up and think about who you are going to put in next. I’ve had many years where it was a one or two step bench walk. Now we can walk four or five steps and have different options down there. So it’s a lot more fun as a coach when you got options, depending on the time and score of the game and who you want to put in there next.

But it will all play out. I’ve been doing this long enough to know that fortunately or unfortunately, stuff happens. You want to have that depth when those moments come and you want to have all your players prepared and ready for the moment when their moment comes. We will see how it unfolds as the year moves on.

Q: Trey Fort has struggles after a big performance in the opening game. Do you let him just shoot out of those struggles?
Jans: He’s got to make shots when he’s open. That’s what happens over the course of a season. It was probably too much too soon. That was a heck of an outburst in game 1. I know we didn’t expect him to do that every single game and hopefully the fanbase understands that is not realistic for anyone to come out and make four or five 3s in their college debut and stay in that type of shot-making ability. But w got a lot of confidence in him and I know he hasn’t lost any confidence.

I thought a big moment for him (over the weekend), he got jacked pretty good in that game. I don’t know how it played out on TV but there was blood all over the floor when he got hit by Josh Hubbard’s elbow. I would have thought he was done for the rest of the day. But he was ready and ready to go back in. I thought that showed a lot of courage and toughness to himself, to his teammates and to our coaching staff.