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Dogs return to old tricks to finish off season sweep of Ole Miss

Paul Jones Mississippi State Bulldogsby:Paul Jones•02/15/25•

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Josh Hubbard (Photo by Mississippi State Athletics)

The start of February hasn’t been too kind for Mississippi State’s basketball program. But on Saturday in enemy territory, those same Dogs returned to their old tricks again.

Of course, we’ve seen this team compete at a high level this year and we’ve also watched this same team struggle at times inside the SEC. But in Saturday’s 81-71 win at Ole Miss, State started to resemble the same team we saw in December and early January.

And oh yeah, chalk up another crucial SEC road win, something that was rare in the first two seasons under head coach Chris Jans. In fact, in Jans’ first two seasons in Starkville, the Bulldogs combined for five SEC road wins. After Saturday in Oxford, State now owns a 4-2 SEC road record this season with road games remaining at Alabama, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Much like we saw earlier in the season, it was a combined effort on offense. Jans switched up the starting lineup and inserted Riley Kugel with Claudell Harris coming off the bench. Of late, Kugel, Harris and RJ Melendez had struggled to give consistent scoring to help the likes of Josh Hubbard and KeShawn Murphy. And Jans was correct in his changes.

Kugel, Harris and Melendez combined for 38 points and Melendez led the way with 17 points. Harris was instrumental late in the first half, scoring eight of his ten points in the final minutes to help State build a 40-33 halftime advantage.

“Let’s just be honest,” said Jans. “When we’re not shooting the ball or getting much scoring from those three guys, it puts a lot of pressure on everybody else. Can we win without them scoring? Yeah but it’s going to be really difficult. It is much easier for us to win when we have contributions from more people.

“I’m just happy for them. I’m happy for those three to play what they are capable of. I don’t think anyone had a ‘Oh my God’ game. They just played the way we expected them to play all year long and I’m proud of them.”

And that lack of 3 point defense? Yeah, that wasn’t the case against Ole Miss. Of course, overall the defense was more like a Jans-coached team. It didn’t start out that way as Ole Miss made four of its first five attempt beyond the 3 point arc. But the rest of the game the Rebels made just 2 of 19 from 3 point territory.

Overall, State limited Ole Miss to just 38% shooting and in the first half, the Bulldogs did not allow a single offensive rebound. Eventually, State dominated the boards, 48-36, just like they did in the first win over Ole Miss earlier this year.

“They’re a very good basketball team,” added Jans of Ole Miss. “We talked a lot about how we needed to out-play them. They don’t beat themselves and they stay in games and figure out ways to win. We needed to flip the script on them and just super proud of our guys. That was an intense game and they stuck together.”

Of course, State has little time to celebrate the season sweep of the Rebels. That’s because another Top 10 SEC foe comes to Humphrey Coliseum on Tuesday with No. 8 Texas A&M. But if State can keep getting balanced scoring and keep improving the defense, that could set up a strong finish in February with a lot to play for come March.

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