Time Running Out as Mississippi State Faces Must-Win Stretch in SEC Play

With eight games left, Mississippi State is running out of time to revive its NCAA Tournament hopes as Chris Jans reflects on a season that hasn’t gone as planned.

Mississippi State Bulldogs head coach Chris Jans reacts toward guard King Grace (23) during the second half against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Humphrey Coliseum. | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

With eight games left in the regular season, time is running out on Mississippi State to put itself in position to be in contention for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

With an 11-12 overall record and a 3-7 record in SEC games, a NET ranking of 96 and KenPom ranking of 88, the Bulldogs are in danger of seeing their season end at the SEC Tournament.

It’s not where anyone expected Mississippi State to be at this point in the season and that includes the players and coaches.

“We’re not where we thought we’d be,” Mississippi State coach Chris Jans said at his Monday press conference. “Not just in the SEC, but overall. We didn’t have a stellar non-conference portion of the season.”

The Bulldogs did have a rough stretch in non-conference play. They finished that portion of the season 8-5 with an overtime loss to SMU and a neutral site loss to San Francisco.

“What we did in non-league play those three years was the special sauce for making the tournament and earning the seeds we did,” Jans said. “This year, we put ourselves in a hole going into SEC play.”

There was still hope Mississippi State had fixed the issues that plagued it during non-conference play. The Bulldogs won the last four games before they began SEC play, where they started 2-0. Since then, though, they’ve gone 1-7.

“We had that mini-run at the start where it felt like we could fight our way back, but then it went the wrong direction, and it’s been a struggle since,” Jans said candidly. “That said, these guys have been resilient. They’ve come to work with the right mindset and the right approach. If we weren’t having quality practices, I just wouldn’t talk about it — and we are. I know I’ve said this before, but all that matters is how we play on game day and the results.”

The most recent result was the third time in the last five games the Bulldogs lost by 20 points or more. They also have a five point loss on the road to Missouri and road win at LSU in that stretch.

But at this point in the season, losing to a team like No. 21 Arkansas stands out not because of the final result. Instead, it’s the why that matters.

“We had too many costly turnovers in the first half that led to Arkansas runouts,” Jans said. “We talked a lot about taking care of the ball going into that game. There’s an old saying that a bad shot is just like a turnover, and in this league, live-ball turnovers usually cost you. Against a team like Arkansas, you pay dearly.”

The time for a midseason turnaround is now and the Bulldogs will at least make its attempt on its home court. Tennessee will come to Humphrey Coliseum on Wednesday. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. on Wednesday.