Mississippi State basketball shows why its defense could be best offense in win vs. Omaha
STARKVILLE — Mississippi State basketball coach Chris Jans opened his eyes wide when he was reminded of what he labeled his offense.
Meeting with reporters after Wednesday's 52-49 win against Utah to clinch the Fort Myers Tip-off title in Fort Myers, Florida, Jans was asked about calling the offense a work in progress. In that moment, the label was generous, and Jans knew it.
The first 10 minutes of Monday's 74-54 win against Omaha back at Humphrey Coliseum suggested much of the same. The Bulldogs' offense was much like the construction taking place inside the arena.
MSU (7-0) made just three of its first 12 shots against Omaha (3-5). With guards Dashawn Davis and Jamel Horton Jr. sidelined, the offense looked stagnant in a game MSU was favored to win by more than 20.
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That's when MSU, with the nation's fourth-most efficient defense, according to KenPom, realized its scoring doesn't need to come on the offensive end of the floor. Mississippi State can turn teams over, outrebound them and push in transition to create easier offensive looks.
"Our calling card right now is that end of the floor," Jans said postgame. "We've got to be really, really good on that end of the floor because the ball is not going through the net that much."
Redshirt-freshman KeShawn Murphy missed all of last season with various injuries. He scored a career-high eight points, thanks in large part to his three blocks and one steal. He finished as a plus-18 rating. Southern Miss transfer Tyler Stevenson gave his best stretch at MSU off the bench. Stevenson, who scored eight points, collected seven rebounds and a block.
"Offensive side, it's going to come," Stevenson said, "but always want to keep working hard in practice on the defensive stuff that we need to so we can just keep holding guys under a certain amount of points and just keep locking up."
The statistics aren't eye-popping, and the play wasn't pretty, but it's apparent MSU will embrace that for wins.
Hard hats will remain a familiar prop at Humphrey Coliseum this season − perhaps symbolic of work left on the offensive end and the attitude Jans has implemented on the defensive side.
Stefan Krajisnik is the Mississippi State beat writer for the Clarion Ledger. Contact him at skrajisnik@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter @skrajisnik3.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi State basketball defense creates offense again vs. Omaha
