Bulldogs' defensive identity comes to life in 72-53 victory over Oklahoma

Four days removed from Mississippi State winning a 101-98 shootout with Texas on the road in Austin, the Bulldogs were in a slugfest with Oklahoma on Wednesday night.

Chris Jans teams have felt right at home in rock fights over the years, but this year’s team hasn’t always brought the defensive intensity. Against the Sooners, it was a reminder of exactly who is coaching this Bulldog basketball team.

From the start, State had what it took to win. After a 27-27 slug of a first half, it was State’s defense that would lead the way in the second. The Bulldogs held Oklahoma to just 26 points in the second frame and used that energy on the defensive side to spearhead its offensive efforts in a 72-53 runaway.

“If I had my druthers, that’s the way we’d play,” Jans said. “You never know how the game is going to unfold, but there’s going to be a lot of clips of that grittiness and that defensive identification that we talk about. That was one of the best defensive games we’ve played all year long.”

It was a much different looking game than the one that State played to begin SEC play last week. State shot just 2-of-15 from 3-point range and Jayden Epps had six points and four turnovers in 20 minutes. Despite that, Jans’ squad found a different way to win.

With State 0-for-12 from outside the first half, Jans focused his offense around the rim for the second half and the Bulldogs found success. State would outscore Oklahoma 36-18 inside and win the rebounding 46-35.

State’s defense also held a strong Oklahoma offense to 31% from the field, 3-of-20 from three and the Bulldogs turned the Sooners over 13 times.

The strength of that came from its low post defense. Jamarion Davis-Fleming and Achor Achor would lead the charge as they totaled 24 rebounds, and they had plenty of disrupted plays that didn’t make the stat sheet.

Achor put together yet another solid effort in the game as he worked through some offensive woes. The Kansas State transfer had just four points on 0-of-5 shooting, but he ripped down 14 rebounds.

“Being physical really set the standard for us,” Achor said. “That was something we really took from last game to this game is being really physical. I’m just staying down. I was really unhealthy with a ankle injury lingering, but Christmas break really helped me.”

It was also another really good night defensively for the freshman Davis-Fleming as he finished with eight points in 25 minutes on 4-of-6 shooting, had 10 rebounds, two blocks and a steal. Jans is continuing to see progress from the youngster as he pushes Quincy Ballard.

“Jamar had one of his best games, if not his best,” Jans said. “He had some putbacks, he had some shields. He’s been a huge shot in the arm for us. He’s come a long way. We’re going to have stories to tell in June about where he was at.

“He got thrown in the deep end and I’m not sure he was quite ready for this level of basketball. Credit to him, he ended up coming back and stuck with it. I don’t know where we’d be at on this team if we didn’t have him.”

Of course, Josh Hubbard stayed consistent.

After being named the SEC Player of the Week following a 38-point performance against Texas, Hubbard scored 30 for the third time this season and the second time in a row. It was the second time in his career he’s accomplished that feat.

Hubbard finished with 30 points on 11-of-22 shooting despite going just 1-of-7 from three. He also had three assists and was turnover free. Most importantly, his team’s effort helped the Bulldogs (10-5, 2-0 SEC) to a sixth-straight win as they are finding who they are as a team and doing it in a hurry at the right time.

“Work always shows up. It may not be timely the next game or the next week, but if you stay with it, it will come to the surface – it always does,” Jans said. “Some of these guys are working really hard behind the scenes and certainly as a coach you want to get some positive reinforcements. The confidence is getting better.”