Mississippi State aims for fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance

Mississippi State (21-13 overall, 8-10 SEC)

Coach Chris Jans enters his fourth season at Mississippi State and has taken the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament in his first three seasons in a program first. Jans has yet to win an NCAA Tournament game at Mississippi State and has not recorded more than nine conference wins in a season either. The Bulldogs return only two veterans this season in junior guard Josh Hubbard and senior wing Shawn Jones.

Players to watch

Hubbard (junior, G, 18.9 ppg last season, 108 made 3 pointers). Hubbard has earned All-SEC honors in his first two seasons at Mississippi State and has averaged just over 18 points combined in both seasons. His 1,240 career points is the fourth-highest total in SEC history regarding a player’s freshman/sophomore season combined.

Jones (senior, SF, 4.8 ppg last season, 2.6 rebounds). Jones is the first four-year player in the Chris Jans era at Mississippi State and he played in all 34 games last year, including four starts. Emerged as more of a scoring threat late last season but known for his defensive efforts on the court. Jones shot 75.7% from the free throw line a year ago and had 10 games where he totaled multiple steals.

Jayden Epps (senior, G, 12.8 ppg last season). Epps is Mississippi State’s top offensive transfer addition in the offseason and pairs up for a nice 1-2 backcourt combo with Josh Hubbard. In his sophomore season at Georgetown, Epps averaged a team-best 18.9 points a game and shot 76.3% from the foul line. Epps began his college career at Illinois where he averaged 9.5 points a game as a freshman and played in the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

Departures and arrivals

Players transferring out included KeShawn Murphy (Auburn), Riley Kugel (UCF), Kanye Clary (Oklahoma State) and Michael Nwoko (LSU) along with the graduation of Cameron Matthews ad Claudell Harris. … Along with the addition of Jayden Epps, Mississippi State used the transfer portal to add center Quincy Ballard (Wichita State), guard Ja’Borri McGhee (UAB), wing Amier Ali (Arizona State), forward Achor Achor (Kansas State) and forward Brandon Walker (Montana State). … Mississippi State also features a Top 20 freshman class led by highly-touted guard King Grace of Dallas, Texas, and center Tee Bartlett of Los Angeles.

Top games

Nov. 5 North Alabama (opener); Nov. 10 vs. Iowa State in Sioux Falls, S.D.; Nov. 28 vs. SMU; Dec. 20 vs. Memphis; Jan. 10 at Kentucky; Jan. 13 vs. Alabama.

Facts and figures

Jans owns a 63-40 career record at Mississippi State. Jans owns a career head coaching record of 206-84 and his career winning percentage of 71% currently ranks as sixth-best nationally among active coaches … The Bulldogs are seeking their fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance, which would be a first since 2001-05 … Mississippi State has not won an NCAA Tournament game since 2008 … Senior transfer center Quincy Ballard (Wichita State) led the nation a year ago with a 75% field goal percentage…Returning reserve center and junior Gai Chol suffered a preseason knee injury and is out for the season.