Three up, three down for Mississippi State men’s basketball in January

Mississippi State has battled through a gauntlet of a first-half schedule in Southeastern Conference play — after Saturday night’s game at No. 24 Alabama, eight of their first nine SEC games will have fallen within Quadrant 1 of the NET rankings.

Head coach Chris Jans said after Tuesday night’s loss at Ole Miss that he wishes the Bulldogs (14-7, 3-5 SEC) could play that kind of schedule every year, but he also acknowledged that they have to take advantage of more of these opportunities. As the calendar turns to February, The Dispatch again takes a look at what has gone right and wrong for MSU.

Three up

Josh Hubbard

The freshman has not slowed down as the competition has stiffened. Instead, he has risen to the occasion more often than not, most notably in a 25-point performance to help the Bulldogs take down No. 5 Tennessee on Jan. 10. Hubbard’s shot was not falling in a loss the following week at Kentucky, when he was held to a measly three points, but since then his efficiency has improved. He made his first collegiate start last Saturday as MSU upset then-No. 8 Auburn, and again led his team in scoring earlier this week against the Rebels.

Rebounding

Save for KeShawn Murphy, who has not played since Jan. 6, the Bulldogs are at full strength in the frontcourt, and they have out-rebounded their opponents in four straight games. That was especially impressive against Florida on Jan. 24, considering the Gators are still the top rebounding team in all of men’s college basketball — even though the Bulldogs did give themselves plenty of opportunities for offensive boards by missing so many shots. MSU collected 45 rebounds to Auburn’s 30 in last Saturday’s win, then had a 38-25 edge against Ole Miss. Tolu Smith, Jimmy Bell Jr., Cameron Matthews and D.J. Jeffries are all averaging at least six boards per game.

Humphrey Coliseum

The Bulldogs have sold out their last three home games and defeated a pair of top-10 teams at the recently renovated Humphrey Coliseum last month, as fans have clearly bought into Jans’ vision for the program. MSU’s win over the Volunteers was not quite sold out, but the Bulldogs found enough offense down the stretch to come away with the victory. Against Auburn, the crowd helped MSU put together its best defensive performance of the season, holding the Tigers to 34 percent shooting. Student tickets are already sold out for the Bulldogs’ next home game against Georgia.

Three down

Free throw shooting

MSU had been perfectly adequate from the foul line up through that win against Tennessee, but three nights later against Alabama, the Bulldogs were just 4-for-10 on free throws in the first half, and then after making 11 in a row, missed six straight with the game on the line. They then went a combined 25-for-49 in their next three games against Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Florida, and after MSU had seemingly fixed those woes in the Ole Miss game, Cameron Matthews missed twice in the closing seconds with the Bulldogs trailing by two. They are now dead last in the SEC from the stripe at 68.5 percent.

Dashawn Davis, until Tuesday night

A starter all of last season, Davis averaged 8.5 points per game in non-conference play and remained one of MSU’s best passers. But he struggled mightily in January, starting with a crucial late turnover in the Bulldogs’ SEC-opening loss at South Carolina. His scoring almost completely disappeared and he was not offering much as a ball-handler or defender either. So Jans reassigned him to a bench role starting with the game against Auburn. Davis bounced back nicely against the Rebels, though, putting up 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting in just 16 minutes. He was again trusted to be on the floor at the end of the game as MSU opted for a three-guard lineup with Smith and Bell both on the bench.

Playing on the road

The Bulldogs went 6-0 in neutral-site games in non-conference play, including a win over Rutgers that was played less than 30 miles from the Scarlet Knights’ home arena. But they have yet to record a true road win, one of eight high-major conference teams without one this season. MSU’s defense, in particular, has regressed away from The Hump — the Bulldogs have allowed an average of 85 points in their last three road games. Their best chance to win away from home looks to be Missouri, which is still without a conference win, but Alabama, LSU, Auburn and Texas A&M will all be tough.