WATCH: Coach Jans Media Session

STARKVILLE - Head coach Chris Jans met with the media on Monday leading into State's midweek matchup versus Oklahoma at Humphrey Coliseum.

Mississippi State Head Coach Chris Jans
Q: It may be hard to put your finger on one specific thing, what has changed since the San Francisco Game during the team's winning streak?
CJ: "I've been talking about it for a while that we have to play the way that we have to play. That's easy to say. It sounds simple, but there's a lot that goes into that. It took us a while, but that's kind of how it works sometimes to figure out the style of play that this team needs to embrace to get the most out of who we are."

"We've changed quite a bit, especially on the offensive end from the summer to the fall until we played a handful of games until now. It required a lot of unselfishness from a lot of individuals, and it isn't always perfect. There's a logic that goes on behind the scenes. To me, that would be a reason why we're playing a little better is because of the buy in that we're getting from our players in terms of what we're asking them to do, especially on the offensive end."

Q: Ja'Borri McGhee posted a message on Instagram after Saturday's game, is there any update with him and the team right now?
CJ: "We play highly intense, emotional game that there's a lot riding on it. I think, as humans, we all think, say, and in this era post, things in the heat of the moment that eventually we wish we could take back. Our basketball team is a family. I don't know about you, but like every family I've been involved with stuff happens, especially behind the scenes. We just work things out behind the scenes, but I walked into the gym about an hour ago, and he was down there shooting baskets. So, I think we're all good."

Q: What have you seen from Achor Achor and Sergej Macura as you've started to transition to SEC play, and what they're offering at their position?
CJ: "Yeah, I think Achor had his best game by far. I don't think attributing their best game or Achor's best game, would be how well they did guarding [Dailyn] Swain, because that wasn't why he had his best game. We had fits with him. I said in the postgame in Austin that that was a big turning point on why we won the game is he fouled out. Because he was, obviously, giving us major problems."

"Sergej, he's been a lot more consistent. That's one of the reasons, I think, that we played better was his consistency. Basically, I think everybody that's followed us all year long knows that you can watch him now and as a staff, as a fan, or a media member, you've got a pretty good idea of what he's bringing to the table each and every night. We really needed that, and we need more of that not just from him."

"Hopefully for Achor moving forward, I think he's shown more athleticism, more pop and more physicality. When he drove the ball, it was straight line drives with purpose. There was no spinning and trying to change directions, and he had an exuberance about him. He had some energy on the bench. Certainly, with his play helps that, but we're hopeful that this will help him going forward."

Q: Josh Hubbard and Jayden Epps both had a huge scoring night but both finished with more assists than turnovers, how valuable is that piece of their game?
CJ: "Yeah, I said this same thing in the media after the game, but I haven't taken the time to look and I'm not going to. I just can't imagine having a duo having 65 [points] in one basketball game, and they did it while not taking bad shots. To take that many shots, 52 shots between two players and to say maybe there was a couple, is pretty good."
"For their IQ and they have obviously more rope maybe than some other guys, but they're handling it appropriately that way. For me, it's like they weren't that efficient. It's not like they shot the cover off the ball. I mean, Josh was 10-for-31. Jayden was 9-for-21. It gives me hope. Like, whoa man, what if they're really get it going? When nights like Josh did the game before when he was 9-for-13 [against Alabama State]."

"They're both high IQ players. They've been around. They've got so many games under their belt in terms of being able to understand the shots that they need to take for us to be successful. Everybody talks about roles. Well, even when you're in a role like that, you've got to be ready to go. You've got to make good decisions. You've got to carry the load a little bit offensively. There's some pressure that comes with that, but they've both proven to be good decision makers. Hopefully, that will continue."

Q: What are your thoughts on Oklahoma coming to town on Wednesday?
CJ: "They're a really good basketball team and are 1-0 [in the SEC] as well. They're so potent on the offensive end. They've got great guard play. It'll be quite the matchup with [Nijel] Pack and [Xzayvier] Brown out front. Again, two guys that have got a ton of experience, a ton of know how to play. Both can really score the ball. They're dynamic players individually. Then, you put them together, and it's a lot, but, it's not just them."

"I mean, they're analytically off the chart. They're top 25 effective field goal percentage in the country. They do not turn the ball over. I think they're fourth in the country. So, they're getting a shot on goal virtually every time down the court. They spread you out. They've got multiple shooters; they've got four or five guys. They've got size, and they've got confidence. Then, the [Mohamed] Wague kid is really developed nicely into a nice SEC five-man that can patrol the lane. He knows what he brings to the table. I really like their team. I like what they're doing, and they seem to be playing with a lot of confidence. So, they're more than a handful for sure."

Q: How do you feel about the development of Quincy Ballard and where he's at in his game heading right now?
CJ: "If you look at Quincy line, and you don't watch the games, you're like umm, yeah, okay. If you watch the game, and you understand what's going on, I mean he's wrestling down there with that kid [Matas Vokietaitis] every possession. He's a load. He's a big human being, and he's nasty. From watching the tape, I thought Quincy stood his ground and grappled with him. He gave us a rim presence. The blocked shots are blocked shots. How about guys not driving it because you're looking at him standing at the rim, or him altering a shot?"

"Running the floor, he ran the floor a few times where it was like wow. Vokietaitis is such a good rim runner that he gets two or three easy baskets that way almost every game because he outruns the other team's big. I thought Quincy did a good job of competing in a lot of areas that don't show up on the stats sheet."

"Certainly, we all want more. He wants more, I want more and we want more. He'll have games where he'll have bigger numbers. The game before [against Alabama State], he had 15 rebounds. You hear every coach in America talking about sometimes the things that don't show up on stat sheets. For us and for Quincy on Saturday night, that was the case."

Q: How much has it paid off having to play a lot of close non-conference games where not only Josh Hubbard but other players have had to step up?
CJ: "And rightfully so. It was a great win, but it's one game. It's one game, and I'm happy for our guys. It was a joyous locker room, and we needed that. Fortunately, as the coach, I've been telling them that their practices have been even better since we got back from Christmas. Their hunger level was really, really good. We played our best game of the year on both sides of the ball against Alabama State, and that catapulted us into even having better practices leading into SEC play."

"I mean, everybody rises up to the level of play more often than not. I was hopeful that we would do that playing on the road for the first SEC game and playing a program like Texas. We did, but again, it's one game. We've got at least 18 more of these if you count the conference tournament. We'll have a lot of great opportunities down the road, certainly with Oklahoma being the first one Wednesday night."

WATCH: Coach Jans Media Session

Players Mentioned

Achor Achor

Quincy Ballard

Jayden Epps

Josh Hubbard

Sergej Macura

Ja’Borri McGhee

Mississippi State University Athletics