No. 17 Mississippi State aims to subdue South Carolina

Mississippi State won 12 of 13 games in its nonconference schedule and is more than ready to dive into the rigors of its Southeastern Conference docket after getting a fairly high grade from coach Chris Jans.

The 17th-ranked Bulldogs take a six-game winning streak into their conference opener against South Carolina on Saturday afternoon in Starkville, Miss.

Picked 10th in the conference's preseason poll, the Bulldogs (12-1) are among seven SEC teams with one loss or fewer. Their one loss was a 10-point setback to Butler on Nov. 29 in the Arizona Tip-Off and since the Bulldogs own four double-digit wins during their second six-game streak of the season.

The Bulldogs are middle of the pack in the league in scoring offense after averaging 83.9 points per game in nonconference play. Mississippi State scored at least 80 points for the ninth time in its 87-73 win over Bethune-Cookman on Monday.

"I would say so far so good," Jans said. "We had high expectations for this team, like we've had for all of our teams since we've been here. Like most years, there are a couple of games we won that I wish we would have played better than we did. Certainly, the loss to Butler, they beat us fair and square. I just didn't like how we competed that particular night in Arizona.

"But, 30,000-foot view, I would say B-plus range. Some could say A-minus with the record, the numbers, the metrics and all that. But there's a long way to go, and we're just at the beginning of it."

Josh Hubbard (17.5 points) led the team in scoring in six games but the Bulldogs' leading scorers in their past four games were Riley Kugel, Claudell Harris Jr. and RJ Melendez. Kugel scored 19 points in a 79-66 win at Memphis two weeks ago, finished with 22 points Monday and is 22-of-33 from the field in his past three games.

"A lot of people are saying that the SEC is the best conference, and I agree," Kugel said. "We just have to come in every game, bring our 'A' game and make sure we follow and scout every single day."

South Carolina (10-3) is on a seven-game winning streak since splitting its first six contests.

The Gamecocks are last in the 16-team SEC in scoring offense at 75.6 points and their struggles appeared at various points in nonconference play. The latest instance was Monday's 69-59 win at Presbyterian that required a second-half comeback when it overcame an eight-point halftime deficit,

Collin Murray-Boyles averaged 16.6 points in nonconference play to lead the Gamecocks. He was their leading scorer seven times, including Monday when he scored 18 of his 22 points after halftime.

Murray-Broyles averaged 10.4 points as a freshman last season and finished with 19 in the 93-89 win at Mississippi State last season on March 9.

South Carolina is hoping to get off to better starts after outscoring an opponent picked eighth in the nine-team Big South 45-27 after halftime. The Gamecocks trailed by eight at intermission before blowing out Radford on Dec. 22 and four times during nonconference play.

"We're going to be in a lot of close ones," Gamecocks coach Lamont Paris said. "I try not to get caught up in the ebbs and flows. Certainly, we'd like to get off to a better start."

--Field Level Media