WATCH: Coach Jans Postgame Presser - Texas
March 04, 2025 | Men's Basketball
2024-25 Mississippi State Men's Basketball Postgame Quotes
No. 25 Mississippi State vs. Texas – March 4, 2025
Mississippi State Head Coach Chris Jans
Q: Obviously, they doubled Josh Hubbard the whole game. How were they able to defend him so well especially in the first half?
CJ: "Yeah, they obviously had a very good game plan against Josh in terms of limiting his touches. When he had the ball, they were trapping the ball screen and staying with it until he threw the ball out of it. They actually did it to quite a bit of our guys in the first half. They just made our bigs catch it in space and make plays. He had one shot attempt at half time. I can't imagine he's had a game in his career where he's only had one shot attempt. We've got to do a better job earlier of figuring out how to adjust to something like that and get him more opportunities. In the second half, he did have more. I think he had 11 shot attempts in the second half, and he got to the line 10 times. They did a good job with that."
Q: RJ Melendez was very emotional post-game, were any other guys in the locker room that emotional? Why do you think that was?
CJ: "Because they care. They care about each other. They care about their craft. They care about this team. They want to win. I've told you guys before how much I believe in this team and the parts of it. They've sweat and grinded. They've gone to work every single day, and they've allowed us to coach them. Then, when it doesn't work out the way you want it to, it hurts. Our locker room is very somber, to say the least. Obviously, we've lost plenty of games this year, but that was a hard one to swallow for all of us."
Q: Why did you stick with Riley Kugel after the slow start and how did you see him respond down the stretch?
CJ: "If you really think about it, it was a really similar unfolding as against LSU. His first two runs, he didn't play very well on either end. He was struggling on offense, and his motor wasn't running on defense. But, we did stick with him, and he played better."
"Then tonight, that gave us more confidence. You're right though, he hasn't really proven to us that he's capable of doing that very often. Not getting off to a very good start and then changing it and being more productive. The thing that made me stick with it tonight was that he was first to the floor for a couple of loose balls, which I don't ever remember him doing to be honest with you. I've been on him about it, and he showed people his strength, his core, and his athleticism and his fight. He was defending out there. He was scrapping and competing."
"Of course, I'm the old coach. I'm going to tell him that that's why he ended up playing better. It fueled his game. Karma is karma, man. That's how it works. Like you said, we wouldn't have been in that position if he hadn't made some of the plays that he did down the stretch."
Q: What do you think it's going to take to find consistent positive momentum?
CJ: "This is March, right? That's what everybody's searching for. We had a great second half against LSU. We came out of the gates [tonight] exactly how you'd draw it up. We were flying around, the crowd was into it and their bench didn't have a great vibe. I'm sure that's not the start that they envisioned."
"Then, we had a group in there that didn't play very well. They were sloppy with the ball. We weren't finishing at the rim. Then, the last four plus minutes of the first half, was just not good."
"Momentum wasn't great, but at that point I told them that a lot of times you say that you scrapped back and scratched and clawed. Of course you did, you'd better. I can't imagine you not doing that. That's the expectation, that's the standard, especially at the level and the league that we're playing in."
"We don't have a lot of opportunities to find the consistency that you were asking about. I was hoping that we'd win back-to-back games at home and have some momentum going into our last road game, which is obviously a very difficult place to play. But what these kids have shown me is that this group's mental toughness, resiliency, and belief in one another helps me know that they're going to regroup. They're going to be ready for one last road trip before Nashville."
Q: How do you think your seniors have helped leave this program a better place than how they found it?
CJ: "You know it's probably better served for the end of the season. I did tell those guys in the locker room that I felt bad for them, because you want to have a good memory for your senior night, right? At the same time, I told them before the game, 'I'm not celebrating you right now. I'm not doing the whole thank you for everything thing and hug it out. We've got more basketball to play. Enjoy the acknowledgement with your family and let's go do what we do.' We'll have time later to do all of that and recognize them in a way they deserve. To me, when the season's complete, that's when you think about that kind of thing. I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to do that."
Q: It was a pretty wild last nine seconds of regulation, what was the message to your guys going into overtime?
CJ: "The biggest thing that I had, which didn't work out, was to hit them first. The way we came back to put it into overtime, that can take a lot out of a team. You feel like you have the upper hand and that you're going to win the game. Then, you don't. I paid close attention to their bench and their huddle and their vibe right away. It wasn't great. Unfortunately, my message was that we needed to punch them first. We needed to kick them while they were down and keep it going. Obviously, we didn't. They scored in the first couple of possessions and got up by five again. It was a crucial part of the game."
"The tip was odd at best. I don't know what happened with the tip. We didn't really have a chance to get it. They scored on the first possession. Then, we didn't. Then, they scored again. Then, I felt like it was the end of the game again, where we're fighting uphill to find and get in position to steal it or send it to another overtime."
No. 25 Mississippi State vs. Texas – March 4, 2025
Mississippi State Head Coach Chris Jans
Q: Obviously, they doubled Josh Hubbard the whole game. How were they able to defend him so well especially in the first half?
CJ: "Yeah, they obviously had a very good game plan against Josh in terms of limiting his touches. When he had the ball, they were trapping the ball screen and staying with it until he threw the ball out of it. They actually did it to quite a bit of our guys in the first half. They just made our bigs catch it in space and make plays. He had one shot attempt at half time. I can't imagine he's had a game in his career where he's only had one shot attempt. We've got to do a better job earlier of figuring out how to adjust to something like that and get him more opportunities. In the second half, he did have more. I think he had 11 shot attempts in the second half, and he got to the line 10 times. They did a good job with that."
Q: RJ Melendez was very emotional post-game, were any other guys in the locker room that emotional? Why do you think that was?
CJ: "Because they care. They care about each other. They care about their craft. They care about this team. They want to win. I've told you guys before how much I believe in this team and the parts of it. They've sweat and grinded. They've gone to work every single day, and they've allowed us to coach them. Then, when it doesn't work out the way you want it to, it hurts. Our locker room is very somber, to say the least. Obviously, we've lost plenty of games this year, but that was a hard one to swallow for all of us."
Q: Why did you stick with Riley Kugel after the slow start and how did you see him respond down the stretch?
CJ: "If you really think about it, it was a really similar unfolding as against LSU. His first two runs, he didn't play very well on either end. He was struggling on offense, and his motor wasn't running on defense. But, we did stick with him, and he played better."
"Then tonight, that gave us more confidence. You're right though, he hasn't really proven to us that he's capable of doing that very often. Not getting off to a very good start and then changing it and being more productive. The thing that made me stick with it tonight was that he was first to the floor for a couple of loose balls, which I don't ever remember him doing to be honest with you. I've been on him about it, and he showed people his strength, his core, and his athleticism and his fight. He was defending out there. He was scrapping and competing."
"Of course, I'm the old coach. I'm going to tell him that that's why he ended up playing better. It fueled his game. Karma is karma, man. That's how it works. Like you said, we wouldn't have been in that position if he hadn't made some of the plays that he did down the stretch."
Q: What do you think it's going to take to find consistent positive momentum?
CJ: "This is March, right? That's what everybody's searching for. We had a great second half against LSU. We came out of the gates [tonight] exactly how you'd draw it up. We were flying around, the crowd was into it and their bench didn't have a great vibe. I'm sure that's not the start that they envisioned."
"Then, we had a group in there that didn't play very well. They were sloppy with the ball. We weren't finishing at the rim. Then, the last four plus minutes of the first half, was just not good."
"Momentum wasn't great, but at that point I told them that a lot of times you say that you scrapped back and scratched and clawed. Of course you did, you'd better. I can't imagine you not doing that. That's the expectation, that's the standard, especially at the level and the league that we're playing in."
"We don't have a lot of opportunities to find the consistency that you were asking about. I was hoping that we'd win back-to-back games at home and have some momentum going into our last road game, which is obviously a very difficult place to play. But what these kids have shown me is that this group's mental toughness, resiliency, and belief in one another helps me know that they're going to regroup. They're going to be ready for one last road trip before Nashville."
Q: How do you think your seniors have helped leave this program a better place than how they found it?
CJ: "You know it's probably better served for the end of the season. I did tell those guys in the locker room that I felt bad for them, because you want to have a good memory for your senior night, right? At the same time, I told them before the game, 'I'm not celebrating you right now. I'm not doing the whole thank you for everything thing and hug it out. We've got more basketball to play. Enjoy the acknowledgement with your family and let's go do what we do.' We'll have time later to do all of that and recognize them in a way they deserve. To me, when the season's complete, that's when you think about that kind of thing. I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to do that."
Q: It was a pretty wild last nine seconds of regulation, what was the message to your guys going into overtime?
CJ: "The biggest thing that I had, which didn't work out, was to hit them first. The way we came back to put it into overtime, that can take a lot out of a team. You feel like you have the upper hand and that you're going to win the game. Then, you don't. I paid close attention to their bench and their huddle and their vibe right away. It wasn't great. Unfortunately, my message was that we needed to punch them first. We needed to kick them while they were down and keep it going. Obviously, we didn't. They scored in the first couple of possessions and got up by five again. It was a crucial part of the game."
"The tip was odd at best. I don't know what happened with the tip. We didn't really have a chance to get it. They scored on the first possession. Then, we didn't. Then, they scored again. Then, I felt like it was the end of the game again, where we're fighting uphill to find and get in position to steal it or send it to another overtime."
Josh Hubbard - "I'm Back"
Friday, April 17
MEN'S BASKETBALL | Chris Jans & Players SEC Tournament Postgame vs. Auburn - 3/11/26
Thursday, March 12
MEN'S BASKETBALL | Chris Jans Media Session - 3/9/26
Monday, March 09
MEN'S BASKETBALL | Josh Hubbard & Ja'Borri McGhee Postgame Press Conference vs. Georgia - 3/7/26
Sunday, March 08