Arkansas (17-7, 6-5 SEC) will host the Mississippi State Bulldogs (16-8, 4-7) Saturday with a five-game winning streak in SEC play on the line for the Hogs.
Last time out, the Razorbacks displayed total domination with an 88-73 win over the Kentucky Wildcats. The Bulldogs are winners of four straight, including a 64-53 victory over the LSU Tigers on Wednesday.
In his first season as head coach of Mississippi State, Chris Jans has his team on the right track. Jans is a familiar foe for Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman, who ran into Jans' New Mexico State team in the second round of last year's NCAA Tournament — a game the Razorbacks won 53-48.
"It's hard to do it in your first year, but Coach Jans, they were incredible in non-conference play, and much like us there was a little bit of a struggle early in conference," Musselman said Wednesday. "They're tough. They're physical. They create grind-it-out games. They're very well coached. They're defense oriented."
Mississippi State boasts the nation's No. 5 scoring defense, as it is allowing opponents to score just 58.5 points per contest. They also rank 7th nationally with an average of 9.5 steals per game.
"They do such a great job of creating steals, and it's really hard to create a defense when there is a high volume of turnovers," Musselman said. "It's hard to come up with a game plan for a team that's a high steal, high gamble team. So, getting a shot on goal becomes paramount. Trying to eliminate live-ball turnovers is extremely important as well."
While the Bulldogs present an extremely tough challenge with their defense, their offense has been far below average.
Redshirt senior forward Tolu Smith, who stands at 6-feet-11-inches tall, is the only Mississippi State player scoring double-digits per game. The Bulldogs' other 6-foot-11-inch player is New Mexico State transfer Will McNair Jr., and the pair of him and Smith can present issues in the post.
"Boxing out, keeping them off the offensive glass, getting a shot on goal, not allowing their steal game or their defensive anticipation to get out and create transition baskets for them," Musselman said. "Those will be some of the keys to Saturday’s game."
Here's a closer look into Mississippi State's stats, efficiency ratings, projected lineups and more ahead of Saturday's game, which is set to tipoff at 5 p.m. CT on ESPNU:
