OVER THE HUMP: Bulldog basketball win over No. 5 Tennessee more than two decades in the making

Being close is nice, but Mississippi State is tired of close.

Chris Jans especially has had the Bulldogs in position for some big wins in his time in Starkville and a few have come, but the true program-changing victories have been missing for the Bulldogs for well over two decades.

On Wednesday night, that all changed.

Just when it appeared State was warming up that same old song and verse, they snatched that loss away from No. 5 Tennessee and gave Bulldog fans something to cheer about. A monster effort on both ends of the court helped the Bulldogs to a 77-72 win against the Volunteers.

The victory was 22 years in the making as the Bulldogs earned their first win over a top five team since beating Oklahoma in New Orleans in December of 2002. It was the first win over a top five team at Humphrey Coliseum since knocking off Alabama the year prior.

“We talked about it with our team. It wasn’t like it’s all we talked about, but we wanted to be the team to break that streak. When something hasn’t been done for a long, long time, you want to do it and get the fanbase excited,” Jans said. “I’m really happy and glad for them. People don’t understand the daily grind and the effort so when we win games like that, we’re going to enjoy them.”

Josh Hubbard, Tolu Smith resilient in win

This was no cheap win for the Bulldogs, either. It was every bit earned.

Tennessee came in at 11-3 but the three losses came to top 18 teams including No. 1 and No. 2 in the country. Adding in wins over Michigan State on the road, Illinois and Ole Miss, the resume and the hardened mindset was there for the Vols.

State had this team shell-shocked in the first 20 minutes. UT had its lowest scoring first quarter of the season as the Bulldogs held them to 22 points and built as much as a 15-point lead in a 35-22 halftime advantage.

It was a similar first half defensively for State last year in this game. The Bulldogs gave up just 23 points and were tied against UT only to surrender 47 points in the second half. MSU got an even bigger punch in this second half.

Led by superstar offensive weapon Dalton Knecht the Vols tied the game on multiple occasions but could never get the lead as State would not relent. Knecht scored 28 points with 26 coming in the second half and Zakai Zeigler had another fantastic performance with his 26 points, but it was State that made the individual plays down the stretch.

Tolu Smith racked up 23 points with a three-point play with 14 seconds left to break a tie for good. Freshman Josh Hubbard had 25 points on 5-of-10 shooting from three with a freshman performance to remember. Defensive moments from DJ Jeffries and Cameron Matthews also sparked the win for the Bulldogs.

“We just kept our composure,” Jeffries said. “We’ve been in a lot of tough games like this. In the past, we’ve usually folded. It’s time for a new start. We got a big-time win.”

Taking time to celebrate

Springing a top-five win isn’t something that just comes along. It’s a week-long effort from the Bulldog players and staff and their response from a tough loss at South Carolina last week was exactly what they needed.

Jans praised the work from James Miller on the scout and the coaching adjustments during timeouts were paramount and keeping the train on the tracks. The staff got a well-deserved embrace from Jans after the game as they celebrated the win.

“With the goals that we have, we felt like this was a huge opportunity for us,” Jans said. “We needed to get this win for this program. We didn’t want to have that feeling like we did last year where we’re playing uphill from the jump. The (staff) did a tremendous job. It was a big win for us and for this particular team.”

The locker room got its just celebration as well. The win that moved the Bulldogs to 12-3 on the year and 1-1 in conference play has excitement building yet again.

Another tough task is ahead of the Bulldogs on Saturday with Alabama coming to town for a 7:30 p.m. tilt on SEC Network. That will be addressed in full on Thursday, but for now the Bulldogs enjoy this one.

“It was surreal. It’s history in the making,” Smith said. “To be a part of something like that was legendary. To be a part of it with these guys and coach Jans is even more of a blessing for us. It’s a surreal feeling, I’m happy that we did it, it’s on to the next one.”