Jans And Dawgs Find A Way Once Again
January 27, 2024 | Men's Basketball, Joel Coleman
With their latest Top-10 win, the Dawgs again show the fighting spirit they’ve become known for under Chris Jans.
STARKVILLE – Honesty. It's a trait you want out of health care professionals. Or in this case, simply a basketball coach nicknamed after one.
The Dentist himself, Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans, sat at his postgame press conference minutes after his team took down No. 8 Auburn at The Humphrey Coliseum on Saturday. He had no qualms pulling back the curtain a bit and revealing his true thoughts about the game's importance.
Prior to the contest, he disclosed he'd sent a text message to family.
"I said, 'This is a must-win [game]," Jans told reporters. "I didn't tell my team that. I didn't really tell anybody else that. But it was a must-win in my mind because of the obvious."
Here's the obvious. State needed more quad one wins. The Auburn win was just that. In fact, it was what Jans described as a super quad one win, noting how good of a team Auburn is and how they'll almost assuredly remain as one of MSU's best victories of the year when resumes are evaluated in March.
Of course, none of this is to even mention that Saturday's victory was even more desired because of the week that lies ahead for State. Two incredibly challenging road trips await – one to instate rival Ole Miss and the other down Highway 82 and across the state line over to Alabama.
Considering all that, no wonder Jans felt Saturday was crucial. And lo and behold, State found a way.
Were you surprised? Well, you shouldn't have been. Finding a way is just what the Bulldogs have learned to do under Jans.
Many wrote them off last year following a 1-7 start in Southeastern Conference play. Yet all State did was beat No. 11 TCU at home in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge to start a late-season surge that led straight to the NCAA Tournament.
Outside concern was then abundant once more headed into this season following a preseason injury to star center Tolu Smith III. But with Jimmy Bell Jr. shining in the post, Josh Hubbard laying the foundation for what has become a stellar freshman season and Bulldog veterans like Cameron Matthews, D.J. Jeffries, Shakeel Moore and Dashawn Davis picking up the slack, State really didn't miss much of a beat while Smith was out. They just found a way.
State's grit has been on full display once more in recent weeks since Smith's return. MSU bounced back from a tough road loss at South Carolina to topple No. 5 Tennessee. Losses to a strong Alabama squad and a Top-10 Kentucky group dampened some of the momentum from the win over the Volunteers, but State got right back in the saddle with a home win over Vanderbilt.
After dropping a game at Florida on Wednesday, more adversity forced itself into the Maroon and White camp. Adversity that had the potential to snowball given the gauntlet ahead.
Yes, State needed Saturday's tilt against Auburn and needed it badly, as Jans' text to those closest to him illustrated. And just as they have time and time again since Jans touched down in Starkville in March of 2022, the Bulldogs again found a way with the pressure on. It really does appear to be in their DNA.
"You've just got to get up," Matthews said of State's resiliency. "Never get too high and never get too low. We've got good leaders on this team. Good vets. Then you have guys like [Hubbard] that play above their age, too. I think we all just get it. We might take some Ls. We might take some falls. But you have to just get up and play again."
Matthews quite literally put that on display Saturday. Late in the game, he was on the receiving end of a hard foul and took a violent-looking fall, landing flat on his back. A loud thud and thousands of gasps could be heard throughout The Hump.
But the man called Mook got up. He stepped to the free-throw line, and he helped his team lock down the triumph over the Tigers. Matthews found a way.
It's what Jans' teams do. So that means it's what Mississippi State and its players do. They figure it out. They find a way to get big wins when they need them. They find a way to respond, even when the odds seem stacked against them. And Jans doesn't care if it takes a shootout or a dirty, defensive rock fight like Saturday's to punch back.
"I just want to win," Jans said. "Whatever style of play we've got to play to win the games is all I care about. I don't care if the [games' scores are] in the 90s or the 60s. You just got to figure out a way to win games."
Figure it out. Find a way. It's what State does best.
So where will the Dawgs find their way next?
College basketball insider Jon Rothstein has a thought:
"This team will find its way into the NCAA Tournament," Rothstein posted on X Saturday night following State's victory.
There's still a lot of basketball left. Jans would likely be the very first to point that out. There are certainly no guarantees.
But history says Rothstein is probably on to something. Because MSU and Jans always seem to find a way.
"We've been through it," Smith said about why State keeps answering back. "We went through the fire last year, and we've got the whole core of that team back this year. We know what it takes to bounce back from tough losses. And we know what it takes to find consistency and win. That's what we've got to keep doing."
