WATCH: Coach Jans Postgame Presser - Utah

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans spoke with Neil Price and Richard Williams following an 82-74 comeback win over Utah.

2025-26 Mississippi State Men's Basketball Postgame Quotes
Mississippi State vs. Utah – December 13, 2025

Mississippi State Head Coach Chris Jans
Q: How did you turn things around after being down by 17 late in the first half?
CJ: "What did the deficit get to in the second half? Do you guys know off the top [of your head] or not? It's not that big of deal. It felt like a lot more than it probably was, but it felt like a lot."

"So, everyone that follows us daily, our game, we just weren't playing very well. There were some fired up huddles from me to them. We had great energy in practice yesterday and shootaround [today] like wow in pre-game. As Coach Williams knows, that isn't really a predictor very often. But, then we came out, and I just thought we were flat. Like I really thought we were flat. Listen, we're not an excuse type of program. But, you play at sea level then you go to altitude, it makes a difference. It really does, and we tried to do what we could do to minimize it as best we can. The research always says to get to the last ten minutes of the game and then everybody's tired. It kind of wears off if you can get to that point. So, we subbed pretty liberally in the first half to try to be able to do that. But certainly, that's not what we're talking about at halftime or any of those huddles."

"There were a couple of possessions I was just like, I couldn't believe that we didn't compete better. The compete part was kind of making me upset, if you will. And so, we had some spirited timeouts. Then, for whatever reason, we got a break or two and the ball bounced our way. Then, the confidence kind of came back, and you could see it from where I stood. They felt they were playing better. They were playing harder, they were competing more and they figured out a way."

"We threw the kitchen sink at them, defensively there in the last 12-to-14 minutes of the game and played probably more zone so than I've ever played in that time span. I don't know if we've ever played that many possessions of zone in 12-to-14 minutes, but they did a pretty great job in it."

Q: You talked about the altitude making a difference. Do you think your long travel day yesterday have an effect on your performance early in this game?
CJ: "I don't know, but I was kicking myself to be honest with you that we didn't come earlier. Not during the game, but the day that we were leaving, I'm like 'Wow, it's a much longer flight than I anticipated.' Certainly, I know the itineraries when we make them, but you get caught up in a lot of other things. Then, you get to that, and you're like, 'Oh boy it's going to be long.' But I don't know, I don't know why. If I knew why like always, I'd fix it, but I don't know why. I imagine it was a combination of things. The altitude and the travel. You wait around all day long, and you play in an NBA arena. I don't know, but fortunately for the us Bulldogs, they turned the tide."

Q: Did you change your offensive schemes much in the second half, or just try to get the ball in Ja'Borri McGhee's hands more?
CJ: "Yeah, we ran a lot of stuff for him. We ran a lot of stuff for him, and you know this happens right? He was sick for a couple days and some body soreness. He wasn't participating in full possessions in practice even in shootaround [today]. So, who knows? I mean he was coughing all day long, and we were trying to get as much fluids in him as we could."

"Then, he went out there, and the guys were messing with him talking about the flu game. Because apparently, this is where [Michael] Jordan had his flu game in this arena right here. Some of the assistant coaches were behind the scenes urging him on before the game. Certainly, he played a big part in it."

"I thought what happened equally was we started turning them over. We finally scored off our defense, which it's been a long time. We forced 14 turnovers. I'm not exactly sure how many in the first or the second half, but I just felt like we got more hands on the basketball during this particular game than most of the earlier games. We finally had some runouts, and we got some turning D [defense] into offense, which is what we like to do. I thought that really helped our offense."

Q: We know everyone is double teaming Josh Hubbard and Jayden Epps off the high ball screens. What differences have you seen in how teams guard Ja'Borri McGhee?
CJ: "Yeah, well, he's built a little different than those two. He's obviously much stronger and carries more weight. He's kind of an aggressive guy, and he's bigger. He's taller so he can see over the defense a little bit that way, but we rode that three guard lineup for a long, long time. We probably played those three guys together more than we have all year long, but they got it going."

"We played small ball a lot. We had Shawn Jones at the four, which we haven't had a lot. Then, certainly Jamar [Jamarion Davis-Fleming] was playing a lot of 5 – him, Quincy [Ballard] and Brandon Walker a little bit. I really liked how they fell into rhythm defensively though. We ran our 1,3,1 for the first time all season, and we just put it in a couple days ago. We'd run it in the past. When we were down the way we were down, I'm like, 'Okay, we've got to give it a shot.' We've got to muck this game up and see if we can get him out of the rhythm a little bit. Fortunately, it worked some."

Q: It'll be a long flight coming back, but the good news is that it'll be a happy flight. Not a lot of time to celebrate it because you have to get ready for another game against Long Island at home on Tuesday.
CJ: "No but we needed it. We needed it. Honestly, I feel like I say that too much, but it didn't feel great for the first half and then a lot of the second. It was like, really? This is how we're going to do this? We're not going to leave everything on the floor, and we had some pointed timeouts. You can talk all you want until you're blue in the face, but they've got to do it. They've got to play with that enthusiasm and that vigor. They've got to play with that vitality and that togetherness. Hopefully, this is something when you know how it is coach, you get a big win on the road and it's a comeback variety. It can bond you a little bit better. We've got two more games before we have the break, and they're both at home. So, we're going to be looking forward to playing at home for sure."

WATCH: Coach Jans Postgame Presser - Utah

Players Mentioned

Jamarion Davis-Fleming

Jayden Epps

Josh Hubbard

Ja’Borri McGhee

Brandon Walker

Mississippi State University Athletics