Mississippi State basketball endured an all too familiar result on Saturday night. For the 19th-straight time, the Bulldogs lost a regular season matchup to the Kentucky Wildcats, and as has been the case in many of those meetings, State had a great shot to win the ball game.
The #14 Bulldogs lost 95-90 in a shootout to the #6 Wildcats and trailed by just one in the final two minutes of the game. Ultimately though, State couldn't entirely keep pace with Kentucky's red hot shooting, and they took their second loss of the season.
Still, with it being just the second loss of the season and it coming to a fantastic team, head coach Chris Jans' confidence in his team hasn't wavered. As he stated in his postgame press conference, he trusts the Bulldogs will respond.
"I have a lot of confidence in this group. I really believe in them, and I think they believe in each other. They’ll rally after this loss."Miss State HC Chris Jans
Even within the game, the Bulldogs showed the ability to respond. Kentucky would build out a 14-point lead early in the second half, but a 17-3 run by State would tie things up. The Cats would again start to push the lead out only for the Bulldogs to pull within one with two minutes left.
While those efforts didn't result in a victory, Chris Jans takes that resiliency as a positive to build upon.
"I never dreamt that we wouldn’t show some resiliency and show some effort...I was proud of our toughness and resilience."Chris Jans
And despite the loss, Mississippi State did show that they're capable of playing with one of the best teams in the SEC. With a more characteristic night on both ends of the floor, the Bulldogs likely walk away with a win.
Losing by just five points to an outstanding team when they didn't play their best gives reason to believe that great things can still be in store for this team. As Jans puts it, they just have to get back to playing their style.
"I’ve been telling them for a while that we’ve got what we need in this room for a great season...We just have to stick to our style."Chris Jans
That style will need to show up quickly. The SEC is having an unprecedentedly strong year, and any kind of hangover performance after a loss could prove costly. That's especially true for State, who will travel to face an Auburn team likely to be ranked #1 this week. But Chris Jans doesn't doubt that his team will be up for the challenge.
"We’ve got awesome kids that have been working their tails off. They’ll bounce back."Chris Jans
Mississippi State will be back in action Tuesday night at Auburn with a 6:00 PM CT tip.