WATCH: Coach Jans Media Session
March 02, 2026 | Men's Basketball
2025-26 Mississippi State Men's Basketball Quotes
Media Session– March 2, 2026
Head Coach Chris Jans
Q: Obviously, easier said than done. You've seen it a lot this season. How do you handle, overcome and find solutions to opposing teams doubling a player like Josh Hubbard?
CJ: "Like you mentioned, we've seen it often this year and even last year. It's something that we continue to talk about going into each game of trying to find different nuances to help us gain an advantage out of it."
"The thing we do most against it is to make sure our bigs that are the ball screener to understand when it's Josh, that more likely than not, their man is going to trap the ball. As opposed to a long roll to the basket, more of a shorter roll and sit down like in the middle of a zone defense football wise if you will. Try to find that opening and then hit him and then for a brief time, you've got the four on three. We work on moving guys to different spots on the floor and having a reaction to the pass to the big, in terms of cutting and sliding and staying space but given the passer a couple simple options. … You have a quick decision to make, and you have an advantage that way."
"The other thing we'll do is, as you guys that are watching the games, is try to flip the ball screener's hips and set up the defense one way and try to get them to refuse the ball screen and to go away from the potential trap guy. Certainly with Josh, using different techniques at the point of attack, with using his speed to try to attack the big and either draw a foul or go around him with his speed compared to the bigger guys that are trapping him. Then, if they're loose with their technique and they create a hole there at the point of attack, of just splitting the ball screen and trying to get straight downhill. So, it's something that if you're watching the games and you'll see the different tactics that we use both with the ball handler and the people off the ball to try to put these guys in a position to take advantage of it. Sometimes, it works. Sometimes, it doesn't."
Q: When you're watching the film, particularly defense, has it been kind of the same issues with point of attack or anything different?
CJ: "The last game when we talked in here about the disappointment with our defensive energy and our guarding the ball and having better resistance. When you watch the game, certainly that was a big part of it. Our offense really let our defense down. I mean, the turnovers. In this league, live ball turnovers are like the points per possession that each team has versus live ball turnovers is astronomical. It's too good of players, too much space in the court and advantage situations for the offense. It's trouble for the defense more often than not, and we just had way too many turnovers. They ended up with 18 [turnovers], and quite a few of them were live ball. It just goes without saying, the obvious of not getting a chance to score the ball, to rebound the ball on a miss and giving the other team more possessions. Then, like I mentioned the live ball turnovers. "I thought that was the biggest story to the game as anything."
"I thought we had some bite to us [defensively] on certain possessions, but Mark Mitchell proved to be really tough, especially early. Then, Burns arguably, I don't know his every game historically. He arguably had the best game that he's had in college. Really watching the film, he made some tough shots. He was making 15-foot hook shots. You don't see very often from a kid or from anyone for that matter, at any level. He showed remarkable touch. I was really impressed, especially when I watched the tape and slowed it down and had more time to think about that rather than thinking about what we need to do better to be a deterrent to the team. Like I said, certainly our defensive numbers aren't what we're used to. That needs to change, but in that particular game I thought our offense led to a lot of that."
Q: Florida is a bit old school in the sense that they build around their big men. How tough is that style of play to get ready and to prepare for?
CJ: "They're definitely what you said, and they've been that way. They've done a great job in recruiting and development. They're very simple in terms of their structure and their schemes. I don't mean that in a negative way at all, that's what basketball is. It's what I tell our guys, especially in training camp, leading into games. It's doing the same things at a high level over and over and over. Don't get bored with the drills and the monotony of it, because the things we're doing on a daily basis are the things you're going to have to do in the games."
"Different coaches have different philosophies on keeping it fresh and changing up your drills and what you do every day so it's not mundane. But, the argument of keeping it similar drills, similar itineraries and similar practice plans is that's what the game is. It's doing the same things over and over and over and doing it at an elite level. That's what Florida does. You know what they're going to do heading into the game, everybody does. It's like, 'Okay stop it.' It's your job to try to stop it because we know what we're doing. We know what we're going to do, they're not tricky that way. They run a lot of ball screens. They obviously are elite at rebounding the basketball. When their guards really get it going, they can beat up anybody in the country."
Q: Shawn Jones Jr. has been a leader for quite some time now. What have you seen from him down this stretch now that he's a senior and about to wrap up his career?
CJ: "All he's known is winning since he's been here. He'll be our first four-year player. That's what he has been known for is winning, being in the NCAA tournament and playing in March Madness. I know this isn't what he envisioned for his last year, especially given what I just talked about. He's handled what we're going through remarkably well. I told him the other day of how proud I was of him to handle the adversity that we're going through, especially knowing that you don't get another shot or another year of college basketball … He's not happy like none of us are, but he's handled it really, really well."
Q: Obviously, you have no control on coaching rumors this time of year. It's happened a lot since you've been here and this year specifically with Kansas State. How do you handle rumors surrounding your future at Mississippi State, and how happy are you living in Starkville?
CJ: "Well, what you said is the answer. The rumors and the people putting lists out, that's out of my control. It's not something that I spend any time on. I can't control what people write. This time of year, I mean I've been in the business for 33 years now and this time of year, everyone in the country is doing that. Like, who's on the hot seat? Who's okay? What coaches are next for maybe job openings that are either available or become available? It's a right that happens every spring. Obviously, when you're a young coach and when you get your name on one of those lists, it was kind of cool. It was like 'Oh, yeah, they're talking about me.' That's so far in the rear-view mirror for me, and I would imagine for most coaches that are coaching at this level. I don't pay any mind to it."
"I love being the coach at Mississippi State. They've continued to make my job better. Zac Selmon has continued to resource our program at the level that is needed and required. Certainly, we've got basketball yet to be played, and we're working our tail off preparing for this game [at Florida]. I anticipate having a competitive practice today. All of that mess, I don't really handle it. I've never addressed it with our team. There's no reason to talk about that with our team. I have in the past said 'Hey, if you don't hear it from me, then it's garbage. Don't get caught up in worrying about that or reading that kind of stuff because it's out of our control.' It's out of our control, and I'm excited to be the coach here just like I was in my first year. I don't take this lightly. It means the world to me to be the head coach at Mississippi State."
"Obviously I know everybody is disappointed in the results and rightfully so. I promise you that no one is more disappointed than myself. And I'd imagine, I can't speak for them, but our staff would probably echo that sentiment. Like I said, we're going to continue to fight and scratch and claw and try to do our best for the remainder of the season."
Media Session– March 2, 2026
Head Coach Chris Jans
Q: Obviously, easier said than done. You've seen it a lot this season. How do you handle, overcome and find solutions to opposing teams doubling a player like Josh Hubbard?
CJ: "Like you mentioned, we've seen it often this year and even last year. It's something that we continue to talk about going into each game of trying to find different nuances to help us gain an advantage out of it."
"The thing we do most against it is to make sure our bigs that are the ball screener to understand when it's Josh, that more likely than not, their man is going to trap the ball. As opposed to a long roll to the basket, more of a shorter roll and sit down like in the middle of a zone defense football wise if you will. Try to find that opening and then hit him and then for a brief time, you've got the four on three. We work on moving guys to different spots on the floor and having a reaction to the pass to the big, in terms of cutting and sliding and staying space but given the passer a couple simple options. … You have a quick decision to make, and you have an advantage that way."
"The other thing we'll do is, as you guys that are watching the games, is try to flip the ball screener's hips and set up the defense one way and try to get them to refuse the ball screen and to go away from the potential trap guy. Certainly with Josh, using different techniques at the point of attack, with using his speed to try to attack the big and either draw a foul or go around him with his speed compared to the bigger guys that are trapping him. Then, if they're loose with their technique and they create a hole there at the point of attack, of just splitting the ball screen and trying to get straight downhill. So, it's something that if you're watching the games and you'll see the different tactics that we use both with the ball handler and the people off the ball to try to put these guys in a position to take advantage of it. Sometimes, it works. Sometimes, it doesn't."
Q: When you're watching the film, particularly defense, has it been kind of the same issues with point of attack or anything different?
CJ: "The last game when we talked in here about the disappointment with our defensive energy and our guarding the ball and having better resistance. When you watch the game, certainly that was a big part of it. Our offense really let our defense down. I mean, the turnovers. In this league, live ball turnovers are like the points per possession that each team has versus live ball turnovers is astronomical. It's too good of players, too much space in the court and advantage situations for the offense. It's trouble for the defense more often than not, and we just had way too many turnovers. They ended up with 18 [turnovers], and quite a few of them were live ball. It just goes without saying, the obvious of not getting a chance to score the ball, to rebound the ball on a miss and giving the other team more possessions. Then, like I mentioned the live ball turnovers. "I thought that was the biggest story to the game as anything."
"I thought we had some bite to us [defensively] on certain possessions, but Mark Mitchell proved to be really tough, especially early. Then, Burns arguably, I don't know his every game historically. He arguably had the best game that he's had in college. Really watching the film, he made some tough shots. He was making 15-foot hook shots. You don't see very often from a kid or from anyone for that matter, at any level. He showed remarkable touch. I was really impressed, especially when I watched the tape and slowed it down and had more time to think about that rather than thinking about what we need to do better to be a deterrent to the team. Like I said, certainly our defensive numbers aren't what we're used to. That needs to change, but in that particular game I thought our offense led to a lot of that."
Q: Florida is a bit old school in the sense that they build around their big men. How tough is that style of play to get ready and to prepare for?
CJ: "They're definitely what you said, and they've been that way. They've done a great job in recruiting and development. They're very simple in terms of their structure and their schemes. I don't mean that in a negative way at all, that's what basketball is. It's what I tell our guys, especially in training camp, leading into games. It's doing the same things at a high level over and over and over. Don't get bored with the drills and the monotony of it, because the things we're doing on a daily basis are the things you're going to have to do in the games."
"Different coaches have different philosophies on keeping it fresh and changing up your drills and what you do every day so it's not mundane. But, the argument of keeping it similar drills, similar itineraries and similar practice plans is that's what the game is. It's doing the same things over and over and over and doing it at an elite level. That's what Florida does. You know what they're going to do heading into the game, everybody does. It's like, 'Okay stop it.' It's your job to try to stop it because we know what we're doing. We know what we're going to do, they're not tricky that way. They run a lot of ball screens. They obviously are elite at rebounding the basketball. When their guards really get it going, they can beat up anybody in the country."
Q: Shawn Jones Jr. has been a leader for quite some time now. What have you seen from him down this stretch now that he's a senior and about to wrap up his career?
CJ: "All he's known is winning since he's been here. He'll be our first four-year player. That's what he has been known for is winning, being in the NCAA tournament and playing in March Madness. I know this isn't what he envisioned for his last year, especially given what I just talked about. He's handled what we're going through remarkably well. I told him the other day of how proud I was of him to handle the adversity that we're going through, especially knowing that you don't get another shot or another year of college basketball … He's not happy like none of us are, but he's handled it really, really well."
Q: Obviously, you have no control on coaching rumors this time of year. It's happened a lot since you've been here and this year specifically with Kansas State. How do you handle rumors surrounding your future at Mississippi State, and how happy are you living in Starkville?
CJ: "Well, what you said is the answer. The rumors and the people putting lists out, that's out of my control. It's not something that I spend any time on. I can't control what people write. This time of year, I mean I've been in the business for 33 years now and this time of year, everyone in the country is doing that. Like, who's on the hot seat? Who's okay? What coaches are next for maybe job openings that are either available or become available? It's a right that happens every spring. Obviously, when you're a young coach and when you get your name on one of those lists, it was kind of cool. It was like 'Oh, yeah, they're talking about me.' That's so far in the rear-view mirror for me, and I would imagine for most coaches that are coaching at this level. I don't pay any mind to it."
"I love being the coach at Mississippi State. They've continued to make my job better. Zac Selmon has continued to resource our program at the level that is needed and required. Certainly, we've got basketball yet to be played, and we're working our tail off preparing for this game [at Florida]. I anticipate having a competitive practice today. All of that mess, I don't really handle it. I've never addressed it with our team. There's no reason to talk about that with our team. I have in the past said 'Hey, if you don't hear it from me, then it's garbage. Don't get caught up in worrying about that or reading that kind of stuff because it's out of our control.' It's out of our control, and I'm excited to be the coach here just like I was in my first year. I don't take this lightly. It means the world to me to be the head coach at Mississippi State."
"Obviously I know everybody is disappointed in the results and rightfully so. I promise you that no one is more disappointed than myself. And I'd imagine, I can't speak for them, but our staff would probably echo that sentiment. Like I said, we're going to continue to fight and scratch and claw and try to do our best for the remainder of the season."
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's BasketballMEN'S BASKETBALL | Chris Jans Media Session - 3/2/26
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