Rob Dillingham (Vicky Graff Photo)
Kentucky had defensive and rebounding lapses — along with some questionable shot selection at times — in Saturday’s 97-92 overtime loss at Texas A&M and UK coach John Calipari said on his weekly radio show Monday that he pointed out mistakes to players in practice. He also let them know playing time would be on the line if the mistakes continued.
That’s not what Mississippi State coach Chris Jans wanted before his team plays at Kentucky tonight.
“We know how that feels, coming off a loss and getting an opportunity to get the player’s attention maybe more than normal,” Jans said. “I am sure their staff is rallying them up right now to try to defend their home court.
“But Wednesday night when they tip the ball we know that will have no relevance when it comes to the game we are going to play with them.”
Jans admitted he was pulling for UK to win at Texas A&M.
“I wasn’t rooting for that outcome, to be honest with you,” Jans said. “That wasn’t ideal for us but that’s just the way it goes.”
Mississippi State beat then No. 5 Tennessee last week and was tied 74-74 at Alabama on Saturday before the Tide used an 8-0 run to win the game.
Jans knows his team will be facing another high-octane offense at Kentucky like the one Alabama uses.
“They are very high-octane on offense, very similar to Alabama in terms of their transition baskets, their ability to get downhill, multiple playmakers on the floor at one time. And they shoot the ball really, really well. They shoot the ball much better than last year’s team,” Jans said about Kentucky.
Kentucky (No. 8) and Alabama (No. 1) are both in the top 10 of KenPom’s offensive ratings going into play this week. Both Alabama (14.3 seconds) and UK (15.2) are among the nation leaders in average possession length and both are in the top 15 in effective field goal percentage that values made 3-point shots.
Mississippi State shoots only 32 percent from 3 but rebounds 33.8 percent of its missed shots — and A&M showed UK could be vulnerable to allowing offensive boards.
The Bulldogs have one of the SEC’s best players in center Tolu Smith, who missed time earlier this season with a foot injury. He averages 16.8 points per game. Freshman Josh Hubbard is also averaging in double figures. The two combined for 87 points in games against Tennessee and Alabama.
“It will be a heck of a challenge. At first glance, they are uber-talented. Obviously, they have a lot of young guys this year but they are very, very talented. They don’t play like freshmen. They seem very seasoned already,” Jans said.
“From what I have read and seen, their coaching staff seems really happy about the vibe they have and the culture this particular team has. They feel really good about themselves.”
Jans said it’s not hard to know what his team has to do better against UK.
“I just hope that we execute the game plan better. I’m not going to give away what we’re going to do but we’ve got to execute better (defensively). We’re just going to have to be better,” Jans said.
