Chris Jans explains how Mississippi State upset No. 1 seed Tennessee in SEC Tournament quarterfinals

Mississippi State pulled off the upset of the SEC Tournament so far by knocking off Tennessee, the bracket’s No. 1 seed, on Friday in the quarterfinals. It came from an unmatched effort by the Bulldogs that, regardless of how the rest of the weekend goes, will very likely now extend their season into the NCAA Tournament.

Chris Jans spoke with the desk on the ESPN broadcast following Mississippi State’s massive, 73-56 victory over the Volunteers. He said it was all because of a fight that they brought against a team that they knew that they’d need it against today.

“Be super aggressive. You know, just be super aggressive,” said Jans in describing their plan. “Ball-screen defense, how we guarded the ball. Everything we did, we wanted to be aggressive.”

“We had a shot at playing someone as good as Tennessee, who won the conference and deservedly so over an 18-game schedule. Got so much respect for them,” Jans said. “Our guys came out and really fought and we were able to hold on in the end.”

As they came to Nashville, Mississippi State had to win in order to make it into March Madness. They had dropped four straight to end their regular season and put themselves in a tough spot on the bubble. They’ve since likely done more than enough to make up for it, though, after handling Tennessee following a 10-point win over LSU on Thursday.

Still, even amidst that losing skid, Jans never stopped believing in his team. With how close they are as a unit, he knew that they’d weather it in the end and in some way during their time in Music City.

“Absolutely – I’ve got so much faith and confidence in these kids. They show me everyday what they’re about. They bring it,” said Jans. “We don’t have many off days. I may not tell them that all the time but they’re working. They love each other, they’re there for each other. It’s a tight-knit group.”

“Listen, every coach talks about it. When we came down here, the plan was Sunday,” Jans said. “What we talked about was, hey, we’ve got a chance. Let’s go get it done and not talk about it.”

Now, with Mississippi State going to the semifinals, Jans is calling all those in maroon to make the trip from Starkville or the state to Bridgestone Arena. He knows that they need the support and thinks his team has earned it based on what they’ve done the past two days.

“It was bigger today than it was yesterday. In my experience, in these types of settings? It starts to grow if you continue to win,” said Jans. “We’re close enough for people to jump in their cars, find a way to get up here, get tickets.”

“We’re going to need it. There was a lot of orange in this building today. Fortunately, the way our guys played, we didn’t hear them that often,” Jans said. “That’s a credit to our players and how well they played today.”