Chris Jans looks back on first season at Mississippi State, loss to Pitt: 'It'll help us going forward'
Chris Jans and Mississippi State fell to Pitt in the First Four Tuesday night, ending a strong first season in Starkville. The Panthers escaped with the win after a late surge, with Mississippi State missing the potential game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer. Pitt now advances to the Round of 64 vs. Iowa State and the Bulldogs, sadly, go home.
Objectively it was a strong first season for Jans, who was named head coach after 5 years at New Mexico State. Jans led the Bulldogs to a 21-13 final record, finishing 8-10 in conference play. Notable wins in Year 1 included Marquette, TCU, Texas A&M and Arkansas at Bud Walton Arena. Mississippi State started the season 11-0.
Jans looked back on his first year in Starkville following Tuesday night’s loss. Here’s what he had to say:
Chris Jans: “I’ll always remember this group for their belief, for their buy in, for their coachability… It’ll always be my first group at Mississippi State.”
— Stefan Krajisnik (@skrajisnik3) March 15, 2023
Chris Jans: “I know (fans) wanted more. I certainly wanted more. Our players wanted more. But we’ll have perspective here real soon, and I think we’ll all be proud of the accomplishments that this team had and the season that we had, and hopefully it’ll help us going forward.”
— Stefan Krajisnik (@skrajisnik3) March 15, 2023
Two great looks at the end to win it and neither fell. That is the dark side of March Madness.
I felt like Miss State didn’t try to get the ball inside to Tolu enough and instead settled for a lot of outside shots, which isn’t their game.
That was a tough loss last night. I watched the last eight minutes, and State went empty for over half of that in one stretch. That should have been the game, but they made a great comeback and had a good look at the end. Rough beginning to the tournament for the SEC and tough ending to the season for State.
“It’ll always be my first team at Mississippi State” is my favorite quote.
This will always be my first post from this article.