Chris Jans previews No.16/17 Bulldogs’ SEC opener with South Carolina

Chris Jans stresses every game is the biggest of the year. In this week’s case, opening SEC season with South Carolina really is the biggest game Mississippi State has played. So the coach’s message is a little more true than usual.

“We treat every game like the Super Bowl. Because if you don’t you’re sure going to get beat. You might get beat anyway.”

And that right there is the Mississippi State mindset as league play finally opens. Opens at home, too, with tip time is 1:00 in Humphrey Coliseum.

The Bulldogs (12-1) have been building towards Saturday’s SEC start for two months and done it well by any measure. They take a consensus top-twenty ranking into the weekend; #13 in CBS’ 25-and-1 list, #16 by the Coaches, and #17 Associated Press.

It’s a lofty status for sure, yet State is one of ten SEC squads with a number in front of the name today. This includes the #s 1, 2, 5, 6, and 10 places in the media polling. South Carolina (10-3) is not ranked and supposedly the last in league line this winter.

Jans isn’t hearing any such suggestion, not after watching the Gamecocks in action. “They’ve won eight in a row, they got beat at Indiana and at Xavier which is really good. They’re a well-coached team and play together. They’re old school in terms of controlling the tempo, they don’t give you anything.”

Well, other than a whole lot of Collin Murphy-Boyles in the paint with his 16.6 points and 9.2 rebounds, as well as the best pre-league accuracy of any one, any position.

“When things are hard for them everybody in the gym knows where the ball is going,” Jans said. “Unfortunately there’s not much we can do about it.” Other than try making the big Gamecock work a little harder for what he can get, and not leave the rest of the lineup free.

Along that line, the rest of the SEC finally gets to see a different-look Dog team from Jans’ first two seasons here. Those previous teams were defense-first and last, in keeping with the coach’s own attitude.

But back in summer, really once he’d assembled the 2024-25 roster, Jans knew this would not be that kind of club. “I said that to anyone that would listen, it just wasn’t in the cards. But offensively the trade-off is we’re much better. If you look at our offensive numbers we’re more efficient.”

The Bulldogs are scoring nearly 84 points-per night, shooting 47% overall and 34% at the arc. That’s not bad and there’s still more potential to be tapped on the offensive end as the transition continues. For that matter Jans himself is still getting used to this approach.

“I don’t know if I’m OK with it but it’s the reality. But in order to win games we’ve got to get better (on defense) as the season unfolds. I’m not counting on it but in our biggest games we’ve had our best performances on that end of the court.”

That’s an encouraging fact because in beating teams like Pitt, SMU, and Memphis the Dog defense rose to occasion. “If that is the case, that will bode well to us rising to the level with the gauntlet ahead of us.”

At least the 18-game grind begins with what again is forecast to be a SEC tail-ender. But what does that really mean? Not much, as the Gamecocks own a #86 NET ranking today. It may be last in this league right now but South Carolina would be a leader in some other conferences.

Meanwhile State’s own NET has slipped through the week, from #12 on Sunday to #19 today. This is normal as the sport cycles through the last pre-conference matchups. Things should settle into a more predictable NET scoring pace from now into March.

Which, if asked, Jans would remind is a long, hard, grind away. Only this starting Saturday counts, he repeats. “It’s just going to be the next game is the biggest game of the year.”

Also, this week brings the first round of SEC availability reporting. State and South Carolina reports are due Friday evening with a final declaration two hours before tipoff. The Mississippi State question marks are starting forward Cameron Matthews and alternate guard Kanye Clary.

Clary has been out for a few weeks now, but Matthews has continued playing on a hurting foot. Jans has said the practice regimen for his glue-Dog is adjusted to keep Matthews ready for each game.