Time to panic? Mississippi State basketball off to worst 5-game start since 2015-16

Mississippi State basketball is off to its worst five-game start to a season in 10 years.

It’s a shocking development for the Bulldogs (2-3), who have been nothing but consistent in coach Chris Jans’ previous three seasons with three NCAA tournament appearances.

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But after an 0-2 run through the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City, Missouri, with a 98-77 loss to Kansas State on Nov. 20 and 80-78 loss to New Mexico on Nov. 21, the early-season indications are that MSU will be fighting an uphill battle to get to the NCAA tournament.

“Nobody expected these results,” Jans said in his postgame radio interview after the New Mexico loss. “Nobody in our program expected these results, but it’s reality and it’s where we are at. We got to figure it out.”

Mississippi State’s other loss was to No. 14 Iowa State, an uncompetitive 96-80 game in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Even Mississippi State’s wins against North Alabama and Southeastern Louisiana haven’t come easily.

It is already the most nonconference losses in a season under Jans, with New Orleans next at Humphrey Coliseum on Nov. 24 (6:30 p.m., SEC Network+) followed by other games against SMU, Georgia Tech, Utah and Memphis.

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“I talked about (to the team) you have to have ownership of your performance or your productivity from an individual perspective, including me and anyone else on our staff that influences what we do,” Jans said.

Is it too soon to panic? Let’s dive into what’s gone wrong for Mississippi State.

Mississippi State basketball’s 2 biggest issues

The Bulldogs hoped to get back to their defensive identity this season after regressing in 2024-25, but that hasn’t been the case.

They are allowing 80.8 points per game. That would’ve ranked 15th in the SEC last season. Two of the five most points allowed in the Jans era have already occurred this season with Kansas State’s 98 points and Iowa State’s 96.

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“We’re going to continue to try to tweak it and get our guys to be better for all of us from…

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Publish date : 2025-11-22 03:39:00

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