WATCH: Coach Jans Media Session

STARKVILLE - Mississippi State men's basketball coach Chris Jans met with the media leading into Monday's practice to preview Wednesday's ACC/SEC Challenge matchup at Georgia Tech.

2025-26 Mississippi State Men's Basketball Quotes
Media Session – December 1, 2025

Head Coach Chris Jans
Q: I know you weren't happy with the end result from the SMU game. After watching the film, where there any positives you took away from the game?
CJ: "Yeah, I'm still not happy about the results of Friday night's game. Like I shared with the team, and I shared with you guys if I'm remembering correctly, we had that game. We didn't make the plays in a timely fashion. We had a nine-point lead with eight minutes and some change left, and we just didn't do what we needed to do to make sure that there was no comeback effort. We just had some bad plays that turned into points for the other team. They scored seven points in two possessions. It really changed the mood in the arena, and in our huddles if I'm being honest."

"When you have a team that isn't having the success maybe that they want, that's what happens sometimes. You can be a little fragile that way. A bad play or a bad series of events can really change the mood. As the coach, I understand that, and we've got to get our team needing to understand that. They can't, when we're in that position the next time, it can't affect us in a negative way."

"But, in terms of positives, I thought overall looking at the totality of the game, we played better. We had better, longer spurts of playing the way we needed to play. We had done enough things to put us in that position. The bottom line is, it's about when the buzzer goes off. We all understand that, but we've played better."

"Turnovers, that's obviously has been an issue for us all year long. For whatever reason, it wasn't in that game until the overtime where we had four in five minutes. We had three in 40 [minutes] leading up to that point. We had made our free throws in that game until again later in the game when they're magnified a little bit more. When you rewatch it, wow, that's what you do when it's an overtime game with this play or that play, but that's how sports works. So, I thought we played a little better overall. We made some strides. But, at the end of the day, we didn't get the win."

Q: What are your early impressions of this Georgia Tech team?
CJ: "They're very athletic, big. They've got a big lineup all the way across, but they're very athletic especially at the four and five [positions]. They've got two young, athletic, just really good players. You've got to game plan for them, but it's a fine line because they certainly have other players that could hurt you as well."

"At this point, the way I look at it is it doesn't matter who we're playing or where we're playing. We've got to play better, and we've got to compete better. You've got to play the full 40 [minutes], and everyone has to carry their weight, if you will. We've just got to figure out a way to play better longer and get a win."

Q: Is there a pickup to the sense of urgency to get back into the win column on Wednesday?
CJ: "I guess my reaction to that would be that I coach with a sense of urgency all the time. If it's June, July, August, September, October, November. If our record was 7-0, I'd still coach with a sense of urgency. Is there more? I mean I guess. That's the way we do things around here. It's the way we've done things since we've arrived. We treat every game like the Super Bowl, and that hasn't changed since we've arrived in terms of the time we spend in scouting and the urgency that we have with our players and our team on a daily basis. I'd be lying if I said to you, 'Yeah, we're going to coach with more urgency now', because that's what we do [all the time]."

Q: What are you looking for from a player like Amier Ali from a consistency standpoint to where he can play more minutes in the rotation?
CJ: "We've got about four or maybe five guys that are all in a similar boat where they all know the expectations that we've got for all of our players, but specifically for them where they're at right now and what specifically they need to bring to the table to ensure that they play more minutes. It always starts with practice because that's your ticket into the game."

"The reality of it is, whether it's right or wrong, I'm sure we're no different than other programs. Maybe not four or five guys, but they've got one or two where they're saying, 'Hey, get into the game and make sure you do this or make sure you do that and stay away from this if you want to play more'. I've always said that for me, if you're moving the needle in the right direction and the momentum for our play and for our team is going in the right direction, then you're going to get more minutes. If it's not, then you're not."

"But Amier knows exactly what's going on. He's an unbelievable kid, and I love coaching him. I think he's going to have some great moments for us, and who knows what that's going to look like as the marathon of college basketball [season] continues. But he just didn't get off, and he didn't play well in his minutes [against SMU]. He just didn't do all the things that we're working on, and that he knows he needs to do. He'd be the first to tell you that."

Q: How can Quincy Ballard build on the momentum from a good game on Friday?
CJ: "I think he's probably shown a lot of consistency in terms of his productivity being a little better since from when he first arrived until now. I thought he was one of the guys that has been more consistent, and he's produced a little bit more than he was. Certainly, that's a great sign. We've been coaching him hard, like all of our guys. But, for us to be the team that we want to be eventually, he's going to be a big part of that."

"As you can see, he's got a beautiful touch around the basket for as big and strong as he is. His agility is maybe a little bit more than what people expect him to be sometimes. Even me once in a while, he made a move against SMU going to his right where it was like, 'Wow, that was one of those plays that was pretty good'."

"He's been consistent with his work, and he's been consistent with his approach. He's getting better, and he's learning what we expect him to do. Our guys are learning how to get him the ball in spots where he can be productive. He's not a guy that you're going to throw the ball to like a lot of guys that play the backdown game. That's really not his deal. We need to get that ball to him when he's got two feet in the paint where he can turn over either shoulder and get a basket. He just started getting to the [free throw] line, he hadn't been to the line much. That's on both of us. We've got to get him into a position where he can go to the line and not just for the free throw aspect of it, but just to get the foul game in our favor a little bit more with how big that he is. I'm happy that he's getting better and being more consistent, and he's got to continue in that direction."

Mississippi State University Athletics

WATCH: Coach Jans Media Session

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