Struggling Mississippi State, ambitious New Orleans clash

Mississippi State has had a rocky start to the season.

The Bulldogs (2-3) have lost their past two games and will try and get back in the win column when they play New Orleans (2-3) on Monday night in Starkville, Miss.

"Nobody in our program expected these results, but it's reality," Mississippi State coach Chris Jans said. "It's where we're at, and we've got to figure it out."

The Bulldogs, who are coming off an 80-78 loss to New Mexico in the consolation round of the Hall of Fame Classic on Friday in Kansas City, are trying to figure out a new defense this season.

"We overhauled our defense from a year ago based on the results and who we had," Jans said. "Certainly, guarding the 3-point line last year was a major struggle. ...

"We're not going to turn people over as much because it's not as aggressive a style of defense. So it's (a trade-off). Right now, certainly everyone can be critical of what we're doing. I understand that. It comes with the job. We're going to continue to try to tweak it."

Guard Josh Hubbard leads the Bulldogs with an average of 23.8 points per game.

The Privateers, meanwhile, are in the midst of a non-conference schedule featuring an ambitious series of games against power-conference opponents. New Orleans began the season with a victory at TCU and then lost at LSU.

After visiting Mississippi State, they still have road games against Memphis and ranked programs Texas Tech and Houston.

New Orleans' starting backcourt of Coleton Benson (17.4 points per game) and Jakevion Buckley (16) features the team's only double-figures scorers.

Buckley, who had his second double-double of the season (25 points and 14 rebounds) in an 85-76 loss at Fresno State on Friday, leads the team in average assists (5.8) and is second in rebounds (7.0).

"He's a super-talented point guard," Privateers coach Stacy Hollowell said. "He's steady and he leads our team. He runs our offense, doesn't really get sped up."

New Orleans has made 36.4% of its 3-pointers while limiting opponents to 24.1% shooting in that category.

--Field Level Media