State can complete an undefeated regular season with win at Kentucky
There are superstitions that drive nearly every head coach in the country and Vic Schaefer isn’t immune to that.
The sixth-year Mississippi State head man is doing just fine with keeping his superstitions in play. He’s won 29-straight games coming off of a Final Four campaign a year ago and is striving for more. While one of those superstitions is not looking ahead on the schedule or even speaking of a potential undefeated regular season, he isn’t shying away from preaching to his team the goal of a championship.
Schaefer hung pictures of the Southeastern Conference championship trophy on the lockers for players to see all offseason and during the year before they won it all last week. The ultimate goal is still a national title which was in their grasps a year ago yet eluded them.
This year, it’s driven them every week. “We’ve talked about winning championships,” Schaefer said. “We have not dodged that. I wanted them to be focused on an SEC championships, but you can’t get past one game at a time. There is still so much to play for with seeding in the NCAA Tournament and an SEC Tournament championship. We know there’s a target, we just try to be the best we can be every game.”
The No. 2 Bulldogs (29-0, 15-0 SEC) remain one of only two teams left nationally without a loss with No. 1 UConn holding serve as well. That’s again put on the line today at 11 a.m. when MSU travels to Kentucky (14-15, 6-9) for a battle with a nemesis Wildcat team coached by Bulldog graduate Matthew Mitchell.
Schaefer had never beaten the Wildcats until February 11 when the Bulldogs took down Kentucky 74-55 at Humphrey Coliseum. While Schaefer knocked off two monkeys on his back by beating South Carolina and Kentucky in a week’s time, he still is looking for success in Lexington where State has lost five-straight times and had a couple of heartbreaking overtime defeats.
“It’s our last conference game on the road at a place that’s been very difficult for us to play but we’re excited about the opportunity,” Schaefer said. “It’s such a grind. Two months of absolutely the best competition you can imagine.
“We had to play really well (at home). I know that they’ll be ready for us. We’re going to have to go in there and play well. We’ll go in there and have to be prepared. We’ve got some things that we have to fix.”
One of the things that Schaefer wants
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