Its HUMP DAY!

[cheewgumm]

Hopefully great crowd today!

[NCMSTFAN]

We need a good crowd, South Carolina is good this year just like everyone else in the SEC! They have wins against Va tech, Boston College and Clemson. Very solid team and would be another nice win for us. Plus with the league being so tough we have to protect home court

[cheewgumm]

Yes this is a survive and advance year.

[Tater]

Refs letting teams play a bit. Gonna be a nasty defensive game at this rate. Just gotta keep the pressure up. We're definitely both testing the line.

Hubbard with a good start. Nwoko needs to calm the nerves. Harris invisible. Melendez and Matthews playing like they've been here before.

[Tater]

Welcome to the game Claudell.

God I love this defense. Also Melendez just exudes the same energy as Cam Matthews.

Everyone on the court is hustling. Love it. This is a Mississippi State team. Win or lose this is the "we're gonna outwork you" effort that I associate with my school. Every sport needs to exude this energy.

[MoreCowbell]

We are elite

[MoreCowbell]

Welcome to the game Claudell.

God I love this defense. Also Melendez just exudes the same energy as Cam Matthews.

Everyone on the court is hustling. Love it. This is a Mississippi State team. Win or lose this is the "we're gonna outwork you" effort that I associate with my school. Every sport needs to exude this energy.

Yeah looks like Jans found the perfect guys. They all have same attitude and compliment each others game well. You can tell they are all on the same page. Love it.

[Tater]

Jones having the effort. Kugel not showing much drop off of effort from Cam. Murphy not getting too flustered at an early mistake. Keyshawn has matured a lot between last year and this year on the court.

This is a well coached team and it shows. Offense still needs more of a facilitator and hopefully Clary comes back soon. A 9 man rotation will be perfect.

Held SCar scoreless for 6:10 between make 1 and make 2. I love when we pull of those stretches. Two 5+ minutes stretches in every game is our defenses recipe for success.

[chef dixon]

SC is not a tournament team

[LC Dawg]

15 point lead and we've missed quite a few open shots.

[chef dixon]

15 point lead and we've missed quite a few open shots.

We are just a better team than them. Take care of business and on to the next

[Tater]

Settling for some 3s now on offense instead of resetting / running the offense. Not necessarily bad 3s... but we desperately need a facilitator (Clary).

Man the offensive board effort is phenomenal. Nwoko came back in with his head right. All 8 of our rotation playing their best ball right now. (Maybe Hubbard could make some more wild 3s lol...)

[RockyDog]

It’s time. Something has to be done about the unused seats down low. I don’t care what the clowns pay for them. It looks stupid on TV

[Tater]

SC is not a tournament team

I don't know that for sure. They have some bad losses dragging the resume down but this team has talent and will surprise multiple teams this year.

We're just playing our best defense, similar to the first year of Jans. Hubbard has taken a step off ball defensively. Hes strong sure and that's noticeable on the offense but silently he's become a plus off ball defender.

[Tater]

Foul trouble for Hubbard leads to some Warren minutes. He needs another year of s&c and learning how to play. Is noticeable as the weak spot of the defense.

But he's facilitating a little on offense. Feels like more of a plan over there with an actual PG.

I really think a healthy Clary makes this team a top 10, maybe top 5 team.

[Tater]

Was hoping we could keep them below 20 this half. Need to mind the gap and stay at least 15 point lead.

[RockyDog]

Hubbard has still got to learn to stop reaching in and let his bigs play D. He cost himself 8 mins of action this half because of a dumb foul that wasn’t needed.

[RockyDog]

ATHLETES

[parabrave]

Listening to Neal and Richard and thats the loudest I heard the Hump in 20 years.

[Tater]

Spin cycle. Kugel makes a huge play with a spin. Matthews tries it, smartly dumps it to Keyshawn who also tries and successfully does it.

This team feeds off each other's energy and replicates high effort from one another. God this team can be great.

[RockyDog]

Great minutes by Warren. That’s all we need of him to get Hubbard and/or Claudell a blow.

[R2Dawg]

Dang, we just look like a championship contender.

[Tater]

Was hoping we could keep them below 20 this half. Need to mind the gap and stay at least 15 point lead.

I'll take holding them below 20 with a 25 point gap... lol. Lawd

[Tater]

Great minutes by Warren. That’s all we need of him to get Hubbard and/or Claudell a blow.

Absolutely. He found himself after a minute. I definitely think if we can keep him he will be huge for us next year. He'll have chances like today where we need him this year. Love to see a young guy stepping up and meeting a tall ask.

[LC Dawg]

Best half of basketball from Mississippi State in a while even with not shooting the 3 well. I love this team.

[Ranchdawg]

State playing some ball. South Carolina is not this bad of team. Now don’t let up 2nd half.

[RockyDog]

I don’t think we have EVER been more athletic at 3-4-5 than this meaning scoring, rebounding, defense. Kugel, Melendez, Cam, and Murphy are absolute studs.

And Nwoko is gonna get better and better if he stays

[Tater]

Best half of basketball from Mississippi State in a while even with not shooting the 3 well. I love this team.

First half of SEC tourney vs. Tennessee last year pretty similarly good. Wool was thick after that half and I thought we were going to make a run in the tournament.

[Tater]

Gaps between made FGs for SCar
Start
1:32
6:10
3:42
2:31
1:27 (two made free throws in the middle of this)
1:24
3:14 into the half (FTs at the 2:50 mark)
2:36 after half (total of 5:50 w/o FG, 5:26 w/o points)

Two 5+ held scoreless stretches. If we do that every game we go undefeated, obviously lol.

[parabrave]

Good play bu Hubb. Thats what you need to do instead of popping 3,

[AROB44]

Good play bu Hubb. Thats what you need to do instead of popping 3,

Hubbard is just fine. I'm sure Jan's happy with him.

[BeardoMSU]

Jesus we goooood

[Tater]

Murphy's passing vision when it's on is insane. If he can stay within himself and not overdo those throughout the year, it will be a valuable asset. And something to counter a broome type to get him pressing more and out of position / fouling on subsequent plays. Really love how he's grown as a player.

[Tater]

More Warren minutes. And I love it's with Jones - Melendez - Kugel - Murphy's defense.

Offense looks soooooo good with a PG. Looks fluid and well constructed.

[RockyDog]

Anybody who doesn’t think Keyshawn can hold his own against another talented big is crazy

[msstate7]

More Warren minutes. And I love it's with Jones - Melendez - Kugel - Murphy's defense.

Offense looks soooooo good with a PG. Looks fluid and well constructed.

Warren needs a lot of mins down the stretch today

[msstate7]

Anybody who doesn’t think Keyshawn can hold his own against another talented big is crazy

The size of broome could be a problem

[Tater]

Anybody who doesn’t think Keyshawn can hold his own against another talented big is crazy

Physical tools are there. It's the mental focus, especially avoiding quicksand when he makes a mistake or two.

He wasn't near as mentally strong last year and he's shown this year and especially today. He definitely had a couple bad plays early that would have derailed him last year. Love seeing a guy grow up.

[Tater]

The size of broome could be a problem

The way for us to disrupt Broome is on offense and getting him in foul trouble. A day like Murphy is having today would do that.

[Tater]

6-21 from 3 for us on offense.

Suffice to say, this has been a pretty good offensive performance but not a great / our best offensive performance. A true PG unlocks that next level, but it's insane to say there's another level left for this team to unlock.

[msstate7]

I'm on the road, what's the crowd look like?

[Tater]

I'm on the road, what's the crowd look like?

Filled out a bit down low. Upper bowl sparse. Was active early and loud.

[msstate7]

Only thing remotely concerning today is nwoko with no pts, no rebs, 5 fouls.

[Tater]

Russell needs to stay end of the bench.

Would love to hold them under 50 and score 90+.

Hubbard got his 20+

[Tater]

CMB finally got a shot to go inside the paint. Was lovely to see him so thoroughly shut down.

That's a big with 1st round NBA talent. He very well could have had a 20+ game and given us fits.

I'm not concerned about Nwoko's 5 fouls with that lens. We need 1 of him or Murphy to be on against a big like this. If both are off that's where we get in trouble.

[Tater]

Love that Warren got the dunk. Deserved for his effort.

Russell gets lazy at times. Back to back great plays and then took his foot off the gas and got lazy. He needs to find the motor that Matthews/Melendez/Kugel have and fuel his effort to keep going.

Nice to see Guy get a basket.

[Tater]

If Zachary Davis didn't have a career day for SCar, this is a sub 40 game for them. Bench guy with 20+

[DawgFromOxford]

Handled business and looked good doing it today. Every SEC win is a good win and we protected the home court. On to the next

[Tater]

Largest win vs. SCar in Program history. 85-50.

Hubbard with 20+. A little early foul trouble but otherwise the game we need night in and night out for him.
Matthews/Kugel/Melendez all were interchangeable and high motor.
Nwoko got a bit bug eyed. Became a bit of a foul sink in the second half. Needs a get right game.
Murphy played his best version. Great vision. No losing focus. No quicksand.
Harris ethical 15+. Solid off ball defense. Nothing flashy, just high quality role playing.
Jones with solid minutes off the bench. No boneheaded moments. Russell really needs to emulate his mental growth trajectory the most.
Warren with great foul trouble minutes. Didn't become a defensive black hole at the end of the 1st half that could have let SCar creep back in. Looks really really good facilitating. Might have been his best game. If I could add anything to us, it's guaranteeing 15-20 minutes of that play from him/Clary. Would prevent the "just jack up a long 3" offense we sometimes do when we don't have a facilitator on the court. I'd rather run an offense to get those looks instead of walking down and shooting those with no ball movement in the first 10 seconds.

[RockyDog]

Final Four team. We winning the SEC fo sho

[NCMSTFAN]

I love this team, we have the pieces to legitimately go very far this year. We have to be patient with the process though even with losses because the SEC is ridiculously tough but I put us right at the top with Tennesse, Auburn, UK and Bama.

[NCMSTFAN]

Shout out to Chris Jans too! I won't lie I was skeptical of his recruiting early in his tenure but he shut me the hell up! The man can recruit and coach his tail off

[Turfdawg67]

Loved CCJ from the beginning, but that's me and all MSU coaches unfortunately (usually). Really excited for this team's potential, but still cautiously optimistic!

[msstate7]

Tuesday is a great test. If we wanna be upper echelon sec team, we need to win road games like Tuesday

[LC Dawg]

Tuesday is a great test. If we wanna be upper echelon sec team, we need to win road games like Tuesday

We need to finish January at least 4-4

@Vandy
Kentucky
@Auburn
Ole Miss
@TN
@SC
Bama

Gotta win Vandy, OM, and SC.
Auburn and TN should be losses and that's nothing against our team.
It would be great to get one of Kentucky and Bama but we're capable of winning both.
I'll be in Starkville next Saturday and really looking forward to it.

[NCMSTFAN]

We need to finish January at least 4-4

@Vandy
Kentucky
@Auburn
Ole Miss
@TN
@SC
Bama

Gotta win Vandy, OM, and SC.
Auburn and TN should be losses and that's nothing against our team.
It would be great to get one of Kentucky and Bama but we're capable of winning both.
I'll be in Starkville next Saturday and really looking forward to it.

I genuinely think we have the team to win every game on our schedule, it won't happen obviously but I feel we have a shot in every game we play. I'm not getting carried away or ahead of myself but there is just something different about this team

[Tater]

I genuinely think we have the team to win every game on our schedule, it won't happen obviously but I feel we have a shot in every game we play. I'm not getting carried away or ahead of myself but there is just something different about this team

I'll take some losses earlier in SEC play if we end our season on an 11 game win streak.

[Tater]

Shout out to Chris Jans too! I won't lie I was skeptical of his recruiting early in his tenure but he shut me the hell up! The man can recruit and coach his tail off

As a Pels fan. It's a stark contrast between him and Willie Green.

Josh Hubbard is a shorter CJ McCollum.
Cam Matthews is a bulkier, worse Herb Jones w/o a 3-ball.
RJ Melendez is a shorter, less athletic and worse 3 pt shooting version of Trey Murphy.
Riley Kugel is a worse version of DeJounte Murray
Michael Nwoko is just all around not close to Yves Missi.
Keyshawn Murphy is a worse version of Brandon Ingram.
Shawn Jones Jr. is Jordan Hawkins w/o the 3-ball.
Kanye Clary has played for us about as much as Jose Alvarado has for the Pelicans.
Claudell Harris is a short, worse 3 shooting Trey Murphy.
Zion has played 1 more game for the Pels than he has for Mississippi State this year.

One of these teams is dogshit, one of these teams is poised for greatness.

Yes there's a massive talent gap difference from NBA to College. But the effort, energy, and style of stingy defense we play. It just stands out as a fan of both how similarly constructed the rosters are, yet how better coached one team is compared to the other. Sure a couple of my comps are a bit of a stretch. But I know if Jans was coaching the Pels they'd be .500 or better even with all the injuries. We've got a great, great basketball mind. Hope he's here for a long time.

[LC Dawg]

I genuinely think we have the team to win every game on our schedule, it won't happen obviously but I feel we have a shot in every game we play. I'm not getting carried away or ahead of myself but there is just something different about this team

I agree but as tough as the SEC is this year it doesn't bother me that we get Auburn and TN on the road and that we get them both early.
Bama's been tough on us lately and Kentucky's been tough on us forever. Winning both of those at home would be huge.

[chef dixon]

This has potential to be our best team ever. It's definitely our best watch ever. Best ball movement I can recall. Things look "easier" than I can ever remember watching from a State team.

[NCMSTFAN]

As a Pels fan. It's a stark contrast between him and Willie Green.

Josh Hubbard is a shorter CJ McCollum.
Cam Matthews is a bulkier, worse Herb Jones w/o a 3-ball.
RJ Melendez is a shorter, less athletic and worse 3 pt shooting version of Trey Murphy.
Riley Kugel is a worse version of DeJounte Murray
Michael Nwoko is just all around not close to Yves Missi.
Keyshawn Murphy is a worse version of Brandon Ingram.
Shawn Jones Jr. is Jordan Hawkins w/o the 3-ball.
Kanye Clary has played for us about as much as Jose Alvarado has for the Pelicans.
Claudell Harris is a short, worse 3 shooting Trey Murphy.
Zion has played 1 more game for the Pels than he has for Mississippi State this year.

One of these teams is dogshit, one of these teams is poised for greatness.

Yes there's a massive talent gap difference from NBA to College. But the effort, energy, and style of stingy defense we play. It just stands out as a fan of both how similarly constructed the rosters are, yet how better coached one team is compared to the other. Sure a couple of my comps are a bit of a stretch. But I know if Jans was coaching the Pels they'd be .500 or better even with all the injuries. We've got a great, great basketball mind. Hope he's here for a long time.

Lol I'm pretty familiar with your Pels team. A family member of mine was an assistant coach on their team last year.. very interesting comparison lol. Also, Jans is way too intense to coach NBA players (which I know you aren't suggesting that) John Beilien tried leaving Michigan to Coach the Cavs and he was way too strict for their liking, they got rid of him fast.

[NCMSTFAN]

I agree but as tough as the SEC is this year it doesn't bother me that we get Auburn and TN on the road and that we get them both early.
Bama's been tough on us lately and Kentucky's been tough on us forever. Winning both of those at home would be huge.

I'd love to beat Bama and UK especially this year. It's been years since we've beaten either

[Ranchdawg]

They balled it today. I truly enjoyed completely dominating an opposing team in the Hump! Jan’s is really a very good coach. Still blows my mind that Jan’s got a State team to the tournament with NO 3pt shooters at all. That is very difficult to do! That’s what really good coaches do, WIN! Regardless of talent. Are you watching Lebby?

[Tater]

Lol I'm pretty familiar with your Pels team. A family member of mine was an assistant coach on their team last year.. very interesting comparison lol. Also, Jans is way too intense to coach NBA players (which I know you aren't suggesting that) John Beilien tried leaving Michigan to Coach the Cavs and he was way too strict for their liking, they got rid of him fast.

Oh absolutely. It's a Saban/NFL comparison.

But man the scheme we run, the intensity and defense we show. I just wish I saw that with the Pels. So happy to see it with State though.