Saturday, December 3
Starkville
1:00 PM
Mississippi State
8-0,0-0SEC
82
vs
52
Mississippi Valley State
1-9,0-0SWAC
1
2
F
Mississippi Val.
22
30
52
Mississippi St.
38
44
82
Photo by: Mike Mattina/MSU Athletics
Bulldogs Remain Undefeated At 8-0
December 03, 2022 | Men's Basketball
STARKVILLE – Mississippi State men's basketball remained among the country's unbeaten teams following an 82-52 victory over Mississippi Valley State on Saturday.
With the win, the Bulldogs improved to 8-0 on the year and are off to their best start since 2017-18. MSU has also held all of its opponents to 55 points or fewer to start the Chris Jans era.
"It's a wonderful feeling," said forward D.J. Jeffries. "I know we've got a long way to go and a lot more growing and getting better to do but this is a great start."
Tolu Smith led the way for the Bulldogs with 24 points on 8 of 12 shooting. It was Smith's 11th career game to exceed 20 or more points and the second time this season he has done so. Jeffries was the only other player to reach double figures, scoring 12.
Mississippi State shot 47.7 percent from the field and knocked down 6 of 19 from behind the arc against the Delta Devils zone defensive scheme.
"It was so good for us to play against zone," Jans said. "We haven't seen a lot of zone and needed the reps in live play against zone. We do it in practice, but you can't make that up. It's just a different feeling in the game. We did a pretty good job. I think we executed when we called a set. Our point guards were getting them organized and we got the shots we were looking for and they didn't settle."
Mississippi Valley State (1-9) kept things close by knocking down its first four 3-point attempts. But the Bulldogs began to pull away and closed out the half on a 25-10 run, holding the Delta Devils to just 4 of 19 shooting over the final 12:47 to take a 38-22 lead into halftime.
"Our defense kind of picked up," Jeffries said. "Coach always tells us to get our defense into the game and once we picked up our defense, everything else came. Guys started hitting shots and we started getting easy layups and putbacks. Our defense creates our offense. Once we start creating turnovers and chaos, everything else goes good after that."
MSU outrebounded Valley 43-24 and scored 50 of its points in the paint. The Bulldogs only turned the ball over eight times and had 11 players contribute to the scoring column.
Due to finals, Mississippi State now has an eight-day hiatus before its next game. The Bulldogs will use the time to focus on themselves before traveling to Minnesota on Dec. 11 at 7:30 p.m.
"We're going to be working on ourselves in general," Smith said. "There are some defensive schemes that we need to work on. There are even some offensive things that I think we can get better at and tighten up. I feel like our defense is ahead of our offense."
With the win, the Bulldogs improved to 8-0 on the year and are off to their best start since 2017-18. MSU has also held all of its opponents to 55 points or fewer to start the Chris Jans era.
"It's a wonderful feeling," said forward D.J. Jeffries. "I know we've got a long way to go and a lot more growing and getting better to do but this is a great start."
Tolu Smith led the way for the Bulldogs with 24 points on 8 of 12 shooting. It was Smith's 11th career game to exceed 20 or more points and the second time this season he has done so. Jeffries was the only other player to reach double figures, scoring 12.
Mississippi State shot 47.7 percent from the field and knocked down 6 of 19 from behind the arc against the Delta Devils zone defensive scheme.
"It was so good for us to play against zone," Jans said. "We haven't seen a lot of zone and needed the reps in live play against zone. We do it in practice, but you can't make that up. It's just a different feeling in the game. We did a pretty good job. I think we executed when we called a set. Our point guards were getting them organized and we got the shots we were looking for and they didn't settle."
Mississippi Valley State (1-9) kept things close by knocking down its first four 3-point attempts. But the Bulldogs began to pull away and closed out the half on a 25-10 run, holding the Delta Devils to just 4 of 19 shooting over the final 12:47 to take a 38-22 lead into halftime.
"Our defense kind of picked up," Jeffries said. "Coach always tells us to get our defense into the game and once we picked up our defense, everything else came. Guys started hitting shots and we started getting easy layups and putbacks. Our defense creates our offense. Once we start creating turnovers and chaos, everything else goes good after that."
MSU outrebounded Valley 43-24 and scored 50 of its points in the paint. The Bulldogs only turned the ball over eight times and had 11 players contribute to the scoring column.
Due to finals, Mississippi State now has an eight-day hiatus before its next game. The Bulldogs will use the time to focus on themselves before traveling to Minnesota on Dec. 11 at 7:30 p.m.
"We're going to be working on ourselves in general," Smith said. "There are some defensive schemes that we need to work on. There are even some offensive things that I think we can get better at and tighten up. I feel like our defense is ahead of our offense."
Team Stats
MVSU
MSU
FG%
.388
.477
3FG%
.533
.316
FT%
.667
.667
RB
24
43
TO
14
8
STL
5
12
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
24
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
8
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
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