4-Point Play: Pregame thoughts from a terrible drive to Starkville

Let me tell you, folks. This drive to Starkville is not for the faint of heart. I’ve done it before — twice, actually. Once for football in my early KSR intern days where the highlight of my trip was taking a picture with Brittany Wagner from Last Chance U, then another for basketball during the COVID year when The Hump became the house Dontaie Allen built. I was young and stupid my first time around, caught up in the excitement of covering a road game in the SEC on my own. Then I was just desperate to see something other than my own four office walls during the 2020-21 campaign, craving excitement in a basketball season that experienced very little from start to finish. Thank goodness for Pendleton County’s finest for his seven made three-pointers in a double-overtime win with the Cats an abysmal 1-6 on the year. A nice little shot in the arm to make that one tolerable.

This time around? Yeah, I’ll be totally honest: the drive is worse than I remembered. Once you get to Southwest Tennessee and take US-45 S down through Tupelo and into Starkville, it’s just nothing, nothing and more nothing. Steven Peake and I were way too excited to see a string of fast-food joints not named Chester’s Chicken or Hunt Brother’s Pizza inside a BP. And why are there so many rusty 8.5-foot basketball goals? Do they not go up to 10 feet? Is there a reason for this?

Ah, Mississippi. Where dreams go to die. pic.twitter.com/NzxIgtQ6Wj

— Jack Pilgrim (@JackPilgrimKSR) February 27, 2024

Anyway, the lack of scenery doesn’t minimize how important this game is for Kentucky. No, it’s not a must-win, a phrase thrown around far too often with no real tangible meaning. But it is one of two Quad 1 games left on the regular season schedule with a chance to gain some real momentum going into March. A win in Starkville could present a resume that fits the mold of a No. 4 seed — currently No. 19 in the NET and trending up with a sixth Quad 1 victory.

Another one without Tre Mitchell

Kentucky has had to learn how to win without its prized fifth-year senior in recent weeks, Mitchell missing five of the team’s last six games — and he only played 21 minutes when available vs. Ole Miss before suffering another injury. First dealing with a back issue, he really hasn’t been himself in a month dating back to the Arkansas matchup in Fayetteville when he finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds. The Cats are 4-4 since then.

What happens inside Humphrey Coliseum without Mitchell, a status that should be confirmed by John Calipari here shortly? Well, he put up 15 points on a perfect 5-5 shooting with three assists in the team’s 90-77 win over MSU inside Rupp Arena on Jan. 17. He was terrific. Now, Kentucky will be forced to limit one of the best bigs in the SEC in 6-11, 245-pound senior Tolu Smith, who is averaging 16.8 points and 8.1 rebounds per contest. The Bulldogs also start 6-10, 280-pound forward Jimmy Bell Jr. — the hoss of all hosses, putting up a smooth 5.9 points and 6.1 rebounds in 17.7 minutes.

It’s been a mixed bag with Kentucky’s trio of 7-footers in Ugonna Onyenso, Zvonimir Ivisic and Aaron Bradshaw, high highs and low lows for all three. Their lows have come in tough, physical matchups, which is what we’ll see again in Starkville. Someone from that group will need to step up.

A battle of style

Kentucky enters the matchup ranked No. 8 in adjusted offense, No. 18 in adjusted tempo and No. 24 in adjusted possession length. Mississippi State ranks No. 72, No. 177 and No. 238 in those respective categories. The Cats play their style, the Dogs play theirs.

“It’s not going to be like Alabama. This will be a totally different game,” Chin Coleman said of the trip to Starkville. “There will be car crashes, there will be collisions. We’ve got to win the bump war.”

MSU coach Chris Jans admitted his team will try to control the pace and muck things up for UK, but that’s obviously easier said than done for one of the most dangerous offenses in college basketball.

“The other team is trying to impose their style on you, and they’re doing things within the game to ensure that they get the possessions up,” he said. “You get into some up-and-down situations with them, and it’s hard. Two teams that have different styles obviously in this particular game. We’re certainly going to be trying to play our style, and they’re going to try to play theirs. We’re hoping that for the majority of minutes the game unfolds where we’d like to unfold. I’m sure they’ve got a different opinion of that.”

Coleman said Coach Cal had a “hunch” going into the Alabama game about how to play the Tide. He added that another is coming against the Bulldogs — if they have any say in the matter, obviously.

“It just plays out like it plays out,” Jans said. “… So, it’s difficult. They’re really good at what they do. I don’t know if they’re the lead scoring team in the nation, but if not they’re right there … Certainly, our job is to try to figure out a way to slow them down some.”

Last dance for DJ Jeffries?

It feels like we’ve been talking about DJ Jeffries for a decade now. The one-time Kentucky commit backed out of his pledge and landed at Memphis before transferring to Mississippi State. Now in his fifth year of eligibility, his time in college basketball is coming to a close.

He’s beaten up and worn down, dealing with a knee injury. But he’s battling through it to close out his career. His coach admires his effort, now averaging 6.0 points and 5.4 rebounds in 26.1 minutes per game on the year.

“What I love most about where D.J.’s at right now is he’s embracing his final stretch run,” Jans said. “His demeanor, his mood and his energy is as good as it’s been since I’ve arrived. He’s all in on this team. He’s not worried about how many points he scores. He’s not worried about his line. He wants to be a part of whatever we’re going to be a part of down the stretch. As a coach, that’s all you can ask for. He’s coming back from that injury, and he’s giving us everything he has. …

“I just love what D.J.’s doing for this program right now, and I’m really proud of him.”

Barring a matchup in the SEC Tournament, this will be the final battle between Jeffries and the school he once planned to call home.

A growing spread favoring the Bulldogs

Kentucky opened as a 2.5-point underdog in Starkville. That grew to 3.5 points late Monday evening, then 4.5 points on Tuesday.

What gives? Maybe it doesn’t matter. The Cats are 4-1 against the spread as an underdog with three total wins. The only true outlier on the season came in College Station in the team’s overtime loss at Texas A&M.

This has been a solid spot for Coach Cal over the years, this season included. They were dealt a tough lesson in Baton Rouge a week ago.

Have they learned from it? We’ll find out shortly in The Hump.