Mississippi State, Chris Jans continue streak against Arkansas
It was never pretty, but Mississippi State managed to win its second game against Arkansas in as many years and improve to 17-8 on the season and 6-6 in conference play.
With the win, State improved to 24-7 over Arkansas at Humphrey Coliseum, one of the best home records against any SEC opponent for the Bulldogs. Shakeel Moore has been a huge part of both of the last two wins, including a timely steal today. He said that it just so happens that both teams have caught each other at the right time.
“I don’t know (why we typically play well against them). Maybe they just catch us around the time where we must win,” said Moore. “I just feel like whenever we play them, we’re in a time in our season where we’ve got to go and get it done.”
Dating back to 2016, Mississippi State is 9-2 against the Hogs, with both losses coming in Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville. The all-time series now sits at 35-34, Arkansas’ way – a stat that was dominated by the Hogs until the last decade.
Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans is only in his second year at the helm of the program, but even he realized that last season’s victory in Fayetteville turned into a galvanizing rally cry for his team that, at that point, found themselves on the bubble.
“You know, I haven’t been here long enough to talk about trends or anything of that nature,” said Jans. “Last year, obviously, was a heck of a win for us on the road. At that point, we were like ‘okay, we’ve got a chance. We’re in the conversation of trying to get into March Madness.’ It was a galvanizing win for our team to do it.”
Jans went on to acknowledge that any team in this league is tough to beat on the road, but Arkansas marks a special case with its home court advantage.
“(The win last year was) at Bud Walton Arena, and it was really good for us,” said Jans, “but this year’s was a different feel. It was a different game. It still had the same thing we talked about earlier, you know, we had to win the game, so we’ll see in the future how all that goes.”
Although a nail biting one, Mississippi State got one step closer to the coveted 20-win mark with the victory on Saturday. Next up for Mississippi State will be Ole Miss at Humphrey Coliseum on Feb. 21.
