Chris Jans Previews 'Really Good' Nicholls State Basketball Team

Similar to this season, the Mississippi State Bulldogs were off to a hot start in 2022. They were 10-0 before playing Nicholls State, but barely survived a 68-66 battle against them on Dec. 17.

The Bulldogs may have won the game, but the scare set them back a bit, as they went on to lose eight of their next nine games.

Mississippi State and Nicholls State will meet once again on Friday, and Bulldogs head coach Chris Jans opened up about the Colonels during Tuesday's press conference.

"They have a different team, coach and even style," Jans said. "Their win against LSU this season and the scare they gave us last year has given us enough information to pay attention to them. When you come off playing back-to-back power five teams and then play them, we have to make sure we're not flat this early in the season."

The Colonels were 5-5 before they faced Mississippi State last season, and they're 3-3 currently. Jans is well aware that Nicholls State's current and past records don't mean much against an undefeated Bulldogs group, as he praised them for being "a really good basketball team."

"They're very athletic and long, they play really hard and it's going to be a challenge for us," Jans said.

Mississippi State is averaging a solid 76.2 points per game, and they spread the ball enough for six players to average over eight points per contest. However, Jans believes that they could be challenged a bit by the Colonels' defense.

"More than likely, we're going to see a lot of zone," Jans said. "They play a matchup-type zone that is similar to what Southern Miss ran against us, so we've had a little bit of experience against it. It's going to be a good matchup."

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