MSU looks to continue win streak against dangerous LSU
Mississippi State head men's basketball coach Chris Jans doesn't feel like his team has quite arrived yet when it comes to playing against some of the teams left on the schedule this season.
He considers Wednesday night's opponent LSU to be very dangerous and knows the Tigers will be looking to come into Humphrey Coliseum with an opportunity to add a rare Southeastern Conference victory onto their resume.
With the Bulldogs being 3- 7 in the SEC, which is good for 11th in the league standings, Jans said they need to take every opponent seriously.
“We're not in any position to be overlooking anybody where we sit in the standings and with what our record is in league play,” Jans said. “I'm sure LSU is frothing at the mouth to play someone that has a 3-7 record instead of some of the teams they've played recently.”
MSU (15-8) looks to stretch its winning streak to four games in tonight's 8 p.m. tip on SEC Network. The Bulldogs have beaten TCU, South Carolina and Missouri in a row.
LSU stands just one spot lower in the standings from MSU with its 1-9 mark, but is above .500 overall at 12-11.
Much like the Bulldogs, which started the season by winning their first 11 games, the Tigers had a strong start at 12-1 but have dropped 10-straight games since.
Jans was impressed by LSU in its 79-69 loss last Saturday to conferenceleading Alabama.
“They have had a similar season in terms of getting out of the gates strong and having a great non-conference portion of the season,” Jans said. “I'm sure, like us, the expectation for them was to not get out of the gate like that and it raised expectations heading into league play. They started off with the win at Arkansas, then lost by three to Kentucky. They are in the midst of a tough streak but just watching the game they played Saturday against Alabama, they were in that game until the last 3 or 4 minutes of the basketball game. It was a two possession game all of the way until the end and we know how good Alabama is so obviously it's impressive they still compete, scratch and it's very similar to what I've talked about. If you are playing at that level, then your practices are good and not staying the same. That's hard to do. They've obviously kept it together and starving for a win.”
The Tigers have two players who have scoring averages in double figures. K.J. Williams has 16.7 points per game and Adam Miller adds 11.7 points per outing.
MSU fans will remember LSU's Derek Fountain, who spent two years playing in Starkville. He averages 8.1 points and 5.7 rebounds per game with the Tigers.
The Bulldogs will be led into the game by SEC Player of the Week Tolu Smith. Smith, who has been especially good at home lately, averages 14.9 points and 8.4 rebounds per contest.
After Smith reached the 1,000- point milestone at MSU against Missouri, D. J. Jeffries only needs 13 more points to get there. Jeffries is averaging 8.8 points per game.
“He's getting into the lane and understanding how to slice cut, which is a term we use, without the ball,” Jans said of Jeffries. “When he gets downhill like that with his length and athleticism, he's hard to guard. We've got to continue to find ways to put him and guys like Cam Matthews in those positions to get to the rim, to the line, create some help situations and kick out for others.”