Chris Jans reveals mistake that officials admitted to him in loss to Vanderbilt

On Saturday, Mississippi State suffered its fifth consecutive loss, falling in an 88-56 blowout against Vanderbilt. The Commodores took a 21-point lead into the halftime break after Vanderbilt guard Chandler Bing hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

At the time, Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans argued with the officials that Bing didn’t get the shot off before the clock expired. Alas, the referees still counted the basket. After the game, Jans revealed the officials later changed their tune on the play.

“It wasn’t an ideal ending, not that it was going to change that lopsided of a game,” Jans said. “The lead official apologized to me when I came out, said that they missed it, that it was clearly in his hands, which we griped about. But, it didn’t matter. We should have got the rebound. We didn’t get the rebound.

“We played two-for-one, we got a good look. We didn’t make it, but they did a good job of executing in a hurry. … The momentum certainly didn’t feel great walking off the court. I don’t know if it would have felt that much better if they would not have counted that shot. Regardless, it wasn’t a good ending to the half.”

The missed call wasn’t the difference between a win and a loss for Mississippi State, but it didn’t do the Bulldogs any favors either. In the loss, Mississippi State couldn’t find an offensive rhythm.

The Bulldogs shot 20-58 (34%) from the field and 5-26 (19%) from beyond the arc. Additionally, Mississippi State committed 17 turnovers. In turn, the Commodores scored 28 points off turnovers.

The Bulldogs are now 2-5 in conference play and 10-10 overall. The team has reached the NCAA Tournament the past three seasons under Chris Jans, but will need a significant turnaround to earn a ticket to the Big Dance this spring.

Mississippi State is 1-6 against Quad 1 opponents and 1-3 against Quad 2 foes. Nonetheless, Jans doesn’t plan on giving up on his team anytime soon.

“We didn’t have the right mental approach or certainly the physicality, the intensity, the attention to detail we know we have to play with,” Jans said after the loss Saturday. “… We’ve got to figure out a way to stay together, coach better, compete more.”

Mississippi State will have an opportunity to bounce back Wednesday when it squares off against LSU at 6 p.m. CT. The game will air live on the SEC Network+.