STARKVILLE — Mississippi State basketball had its way earlier in the season against South Carolina, trouncing the Gamecocks by 35 points in the SEC opener at Humphrey Coliseum.

South Carolina hasn’t won since that game three weeks ago. Bulldogs coach Chris Jans knows what happened in that matchup won’t necessarily dictate the outcome when No. 14 MSU (15-4, 3-3 SEC) plays at South Carolina (10-9, 0-6) on Saturday (noon, SEC Network). 

“We’ve been around it long enough to understand that each game is its own little chapter in your season and what happened in that game really is fairly irrelevant weeks later,” he said Thursday.  “Everybody gets better as the season progresses.”

Here’s what to know about the matchup.

South Carolina is coming off a heartbreaking loss

The Gamecocks haven’t won since they lost to Mississippi State at Humphrey Coliseum on Jan. 4. In fact, that game started what’s now a six-game losing streak. 

Three of those losses are against top 10 teams in Alabama, Auburn and Florida. South Carolina lost by three points to Auburn, three points to Vanderbilt and one point to Florida on Wednesday.  It led for 38 minutes, 32 seconds of game time against Florida before allowing a game-winner by Will Richard with five seconds remaining. 

“They’re snakebitten almost,” Jans said.

South Carolina has the worst offense in the SEC at 71.5 points per game. It hasn’t scored more than 74 points since Dec. 17. The Gamecocks are also last in the SEC with 5.2 steals per game.

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Mississippi State contained Collin Murray-Boyles last game

Collin Murray-Boyles is viewed as a legitimate NBA prospect for the upcoming draft. However, the 6-foot-8 sophomore forward did not play well against MSU earlier this season. He had five points on 2-of-9 shooting with 10 rebounds but six turnovers and was a minus-27. 

Murray-Boyles has scored in double figures in four straight games, including 25 points against Auburn. 

“I got as much respect for him as anybody in the league,” Jans said. “I love how he plays the game.”

Mississippi State needs a faster starts on the road

Mississippi State has lost its past two road games to Tennessee and Auburn. Slow starts were an issue in both of them. 

Against Auburn, MSU fell behind 10-0. And against Tennessee, it trailed 8-0. The Bulldogs never led in either game. 

“As a staff, we’ve talked about it since the Tennessee game, and we need to fix it from the top down,” Jans said. 

Mississippi State vs South Carolina odds

BetMGM has not posted betting lines for this game.

Mississippi State vs South Carolina injury updates

South Carolina was without Jamarii Thomas and Myles Stute against Florida. Thomas, who’s second on the team in scoring, has been out since Jan. 8 because of a knee sprain. Stute is out indefinitely with a blood clot.

Mississippi State guard Kanye Clary hasn’t played since Nov. 29 because of a lower-leg injury.

How to watch Mississippi State vs South Carolina: Time, TV channel, live stream

Mississippi State vs South Carolina will air on SEC Network. Tipoff is scheduled for noon. Streaming is available via ESPN+. 

Mississippi State vs South Carolina prediction, picks

Mississippi State 78, South Carolina 68: The Gamecocks need a win badly, but this doesn’t appear to be a favorable matchup. MSU should be able to limit Murray-Boyles again with Cameron Matthews.

Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.

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