Bulldogs understand importance of SEC Tournament ahead of must-win in Nashville
NASHVILLE – For a second-straight season, Mississippi State enters the SEC basketball tournament needing a win.
A victory last year over Florida in the second round proved to be the difference in the Bulldogs making the Play-In game in Dayton, Ohio, and missing out on the tournament all together. All metrics and projections from those that project the tournament this year suggest that State needs to win again in its first matchup this year to make it in as well.
Whether or not Chris Jans has talked about that fact to his team hasn’t been important because the players already know the situation. Some of the veterans spoke about as much on Wednesday as the team took shootaround inside Bridgestone Arena.
“We’re here now. Our opportunities are whittling down, and we have to capitalize on one of them,” senior guard Shakeel Moore said. “The sense of urgency has been major for us. Practice has been different, energy has been different, coach has been coaching hard. It’s time to get it done.”
It’s been a bit of an up-and-down season for Jans’ second team.
The Bulldogs were without star center Tolu Smith for the majority of non-conference play as he worked back from a foot injury, but the Bulldogs survived that portion of the schedule thanks to the work of Jimmy Bell in Smith’s spot.
Despite a good 6-0 start and a reasonable 11-2 non-conference record, a loss to Southern University at home has been a wart on the Bulldogs’ back since December. State has since gotten some big wins in SEC play like beating SEC champion Tennessee and earning a top 15 win over Auburn, but a win over the Jaguars would have already had the Bulldogs firmly in the tournament.
Cameron Matthews has been a part of some highs and lows during the time he’s been in Starkville and he’s looking at Thursday’s Noon tipoff with LSU as another chance. Others like Smith, Moore, DJ Jeffries and DaShawn Davis aren’t bothered by the pressure of winning either.
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“I feel like the core guys that we have that have been here have been in situations like this,” Matthews said. “One game shouldn’t affect you because you have another opportunity. We’ve just got to go out there and compete.”
The Tigers are a familiar foe for State as the Bulldogs were just in Baton Rouge, La., a couple of weeks ago in what was the last win that this team had picked up. State played one of its most complete games of the season as it took home an 87-67 road blowout.
LSU still finished ahead of State in the league at 9-9 but the Tigers aren’t even on the NCAA bubble. It’s a team that has had a strange season in its own right but is all the more dangerous.
The opponent on Thursday at lunch doesn’t really matter for the Bulldogs, however. It’s a team that has to take care of business or it could find itself sitting at home this March instead of taking part in the madness.
The players say they’re ready.
“It’s win or go home, all or nothing. We were here last year and know what we have to do to get into the NCAA,” Moore said. “Opportunities don’t mean anything until we get it done so it’s important for us to lock in.”
