STARKVILLE — The start to SEC play did not go well for Mississippi State women’s basketball. 

First, it was crushed by 22 points at Kentucky. Then, MSU suffered a 27-point loss to South Carolina on Sunday. 

Afterward, coach Sam Purcell was blunt with Jerkaila Jordan, his star player. 

“I talked about, ‘There’s moments there in that South Carolina game you didn’t trust your teammates,’” he said. “‘The moments are going to arrive again that you don’t have to hit a home run ball. If you go into a collapse, I need you to make a pass.’”

It unfolded just like he imagined. 

Midway through the fourth quarter, as Mississippi State led No. 11 Oklahoma by two points, Jordan drove to the right and was stopped by a defender at the block. She immediately spun around and located a wide open Debreasha Powe standing at the 3-point line. The pass was made. 

Splash. 

It was one of many brilliant plays by Jordan as she scored 12 of her team-leading 24 points in the fourth quarter and willed MSU (14-3, 1-2 SEC) to an 81-77 upset win Thursday night at Humphrey Coliseum. 

Purcell and Jordan both credited the win to one thing: focus.

“SEC is one of the toughest conferences,” Jordan said. “It could be anybody’s night. Literally, there’s any team that can knock you off. So just like I said, not dwelling on the last one, because you can lose two, but you can win two just as fast in the SEC.”

Mississippi State weathered Oklahoma’s storm

The start of Thursday’s game was similar to Sunday’s loss to South Carolina.

Mississippi State again had a hot start and jumped ahead by 14 points. MSU unraveled four days ago in the same situation. Turnovers and defensive lapses were aplenty. The shot choices were head-scratching. The energy was sucked out of Humphrey Coliseum. 

This time, the Bulldogs were prepared for Oklahoma’s punch. 

The Sooners (13-3, 1-2) closed the first half on a 15-2 run. MSU’s lead was cut to 33-32. The bleeding stopped there. 

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Mississippi State and Oklahoma traded the lead back and forth in the third quarter. A 7-0 run by the Bulldogs in the final two minutes gave them a 53-49 lead into the fourth quarter. And perhaps most importantly, MSU committed just two turnovers in the quarter. It’s been an issue all season, but MSU had only 11 against the Sooners, tied for its second fewest of the season.

“Everybody loses focus when bad things happen,” Purcell said. “Basketball is a game of mistakes. So if you can stay focused and stay the course, you’ll overcome whatever is thrown at you, whether it’s not a call, a turnover, an off night.” 

How Mississippi State stayed focused to seal the win

Mississippi State and Oklahoma were tied at 72 with one minute to play. MSU won the game at the free throw line. 

It attempted 12 free throws in the final minute. Eniya Russell, Madina Okot, Destiney McPhaul and Denim DeShields drilled nine of them. 

One final stop was needed, though, as Russell missed one free throw with 14 seconds remaining. The Bulldogs led 79-77 when an off-target Oklahoma pass ricocheted off two hands. The ball bounced once on the floor near the elbow, up for anyone’s grab. DeShields came away with it, one of her five steals in the game. 

“To keep that focus and own the moment, especially when we ran out of timeouts and the game was long, and we just were like, ‘What’s going on?’ again, it says a lot about who they are and the big-game gene that they have in them,” Purcell said.

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

Coming off a disappointing loss to Georgia, the Kentucky Wildcats will hit the road again on Saturday, this time against the 14th-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Led by third-year head coach Chris Jans, the Bulldogs currently hold their highest ranking since the 2018-19 season. It’s not been due to a poor schedule either, as the Bulldogs have the eighth-strongest strength of record according to ESPN, including four Quad I wins.

Ranked top 25 in KenPom offensive and defensive efficiency, Mississippi State is just one of 11 teams that fit that criteria. That said, Kentucky is 2-0 against such teams as Duke and Florida.

Let’s take a look at the matchup.

Rebounding Battle

Kentucky’s biggest issue of late has been rebounding, which Mark Pope called a “major issue” after the loss to Georgia. The Wildcats have been outrebounded in four straight games, including Brown, and have given up double-digit offensive rebounds in back-to-back games to start SEC play.

The rebounding battle is not going to be any easier against Mississippi State, who ranks 30th in rebounds per game (39.3) and grabs 34.4% of their own misses.

On paper, Kentucky has more size, and it will be important for ALL five players to box out. As they teach in youth basketball, Hit-Turn-Drive-Purse.

Take Care of the Ball

Kentucky has been one of the top ten teams in the country in taking care of the ball, but they coughed it up 13 times to Georgia, their second-highest mark of the season.

On the other side, Mississippi State is really good at forcing turnovers. Per game, the Bulldogs turn their opponent over nearly 15 times. About ten of those come from steals, where they rank in the top 10 nationally.

Kentucky has scored more than 1 point per possession this season, so think of it as leaving points on the board. They need to commit nine or fewer turnovers.

Physicality

The officiating has not been great in Kentucky’s first two SEC contests. However, that’s just part of the game. As Mark Pope says, only focus on what you can control.

One thing they can focus on and control is their level of physicality. Kentucky responded to the physicality of Florida but never matched it against Georgia, and that is a big reason why they lost.

Again, Kentucky has the size, but they have to show the mentality. In the SEC you have to be the most physical team or meet the level every night out.

Opposing Players to Watch

G Josh Hubbard 5-11, 190 lbs

• 17.1 PPG (T-9th in SEC)
• 3.3 APG
• 38.2% 3P

F Keshawn Murphy 6-10, 230 lbs

• 9.9 PPG
• 7.7 RPG (9th in SEC)
• 1.3 BPG

F Cameron Matthews 6-7, 235 lbs

• 6.9 RPG
• 4.1 APG (8th in SEC)
• 2.5 SPG (1st in SEC)

Time: 8:30 PM ET

Date: January 11th, 2024

Location: Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Mississippi

TV Channel: SEC Network

Announcers: Dave Neal and Jon Sundvold will call the action.

Online Stream: You can stream the game online using ESPN+ and the ESPN app.

Radio: Tom Leach and Jack Givens will have the call on the UK Sports Radio Network.

Replay: WatchESPN and SEC Network (check local listings).

Rosters: UK | MISS ST

Stats to Know: UK | MISS ST

KenPom: UK | MISS ST

Team Sheet: UK | MISS ST

Odds: FanDuel Sportsbook has yet to release the odds for the game, so please check back later for those, but assume Kentucky will be an underdog. ESPN is the most confident in Kentucky’s chances to win…at just 36.8%. EvanMiya is the most pessimistic, giving the Cats just a 28.1% chance of victory. Bart Torvik (33%) and KenPom (31%) fall in between.

Predictions: The analytics have Kentucky losing by 5+ points in Stakrville. Haslametrics has Kentucky losing 86-79. EvanMiya has the Cats losing 82-76. Bart Torvik (85-80) and KenPom (84-79) are going with a five-point loss. I think Kentucky struggles again with another physical team that is more talented than Georgia or Ohio State. I believe Kentucky will drop a second straight, 78-72.

How do you see this one going? Send us your Kentucky vs. Mississippi State score predictions in the comments section!

Go Cats!!

Dallas-based Compass Datacenters, a multinational data center developer, is locating its next hyperscale data center campus in Meridian, according to Gov. Tate Reeves, who announced the project at the Mississippi Economic Council’s Capital Day Thursday.

The campus will consist of eight data centers that will be constructed over an eight-year period.Upon occupancy, Compass Datacenters’ campus will represent an investment of $10 billion, including future tenants’ information technology equipment. The campus also will create thousands of direct and indirect jobs. Compass Datacenters builds single-tenant, hyperscale data center campuses. The large-scale campuses built by Compass are designed to last for more than 100 years and create economies of scale to support local businesses and jobs.

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Mississippi Development Authority is providing assistance for site preparation. MDA also will certify Compass Datacenters as a data center operator, which will provide the company with 10-year state income and franchise tax exemptions, as well as a sales and use tax exemption on construction materials, equipment and software and hardware replacements.

The city of Meridian, Lauderdale County, and electrical utility provider Mississippi Power Company also are assisting with the project. Mississippi Power will supply approximately 500 megawatts of power to the facility. 

Ross Reily is a writer for the Clarion Ledger, part of the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at rreily@gannett.com or 601-573-2952. You can follow him on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter @GreenOkra1.