Everything Chris Jans Said After the Win Over No. 5 Tennessee

The Mississippi State men's basketball team broke a 22-year drought on Wednesday night.

The Mississippi State men's basketball team upset No. 5 Tennessee 77-72 on Wednesday night. This marked the Bulldogs' first victory over an AP Top-5 opponent since 2002.

Head coach Chris Jans spoke about his team's efforts during the postgame press conference. Here's the transcript:

On what was said in the last few minutes to prevent another blown lead:

I'm not sure what was different, we just stuck together and made some plays. The game changed quickly in the second half, they made some baskets and we had to call an early timeout. Then they played with some great intensity and passion and we obviously struggled with the press. They're not a huge pressing team, they found a bit of a hole and we struggled. Obviously disappointed in that but glad we stuck together. We've been in this situation before and used that experience and had some guys step up. They were determined to win this game and make some plays.

On the team's effort the past two games:

I'm proud of them. We talked about sustained effort. I thought in the South Carolina game that we had really good spurts, especially on the defensive end. We talked too much about the rebound difference that game and we were behind in the first half again. But I thought they showed that up pretty nicely in the second half. You never know what to expect, you never know how the game will unfold and how the kids are going to react, but I was proud of their might, toughness, strength and how physical they played.

On how the team bought in knowing Tennessee would try to out-physical them:

I don't know if I could have any more respect for anybody in the league than coach Barnes' staff and their players. They go about it the right way. They're ranked No. 2 KenPom defense in the country for a reason and they win at a high level. We knew it was going to be a physical game and we talked about everything we did from getting open to passing and catching, setting screens on and off the ball and how we're defending them. Just being really physical and if you didn't have that mindset, it was going to be hard to play in this particular game. When the ball was shot, there were some big athletic bodies that were scrapping and clawing to secure the rebound. We're going to have some guys sore tomorrow because this was the most physical game of the year and we have a long way to go.

On whole staff making adjustments:

With the goals we have, we felt like this was a huge opportunity for us. We needed to get this win for our program. We didn't want it to be like last year when we were playing uphill from the jump. Those guys did a terrific job. James Miller led the scout this game and like usual he was on point. He had a great job of gameplan and adjustments and it was a big win for us and this particular team.

On Josh Hubbard's impact:

He could score the ball. The guys have learned to trust him and understand that he's a weapon for us. When a kid comes in like that and scores in bunches, there are potentially issues among the team. I give our kids credit for not having those issues and realizing that he can make everybody better. He gets in zones and is a tough guard. We see it in practice sometimes, he has a stoic demeanor never gets too high or low and he's beyond his years.

On the Southern loss being a part of them despite the big win over Tennessee:

That loss is going to be a part of us, I said that immediately after the game and it's not going away and we understand that. There's nothing we could do about it and we're searching for bigger wins. We have the opportunity to play in a league like this where every single night you get a Quad-1 or Quad-2 opportunity. Those are great but you have to win those games to have those signature wins.

On Jimmy Bell's performance off the bench:

We started Tolu tonight for the first time and there wasn't a fiber in my body about Jimmy's acceptance of that. I didn't even talk to him about it as someone else did and he said 'no problem.' He's a veteran that's so big and strong. The combination of those two coming in and out of the game is the plan to wear out the other team's front line and get them in foul trouble. Usually he leads us in foul trouble, he didn't tonight but he also didn't play a lot of minutes. Tolu picked up the slack and had nine drawn. Sometimes the things they do don't end up in the stat sheet but we're very aware of it.

On Cameron Matthews' performance as he didn't fill up the stat sheet like normal:

He's our emotional and vocal leader. He does so much for our basketball team. Obviously, we really struggled in the second half against their press. But Cam came in and settled us down by putting him up top. He just has to get better at silly fouls that are over-aggression and helping. We're a better basketball team when he's on the floor.

On the first win vs. an AP Top 5 team since 2002:

We talked about it with our team. They knew the situation and we wanted to be the team to break that streak. When nothing's been done for a long long time, you want your team to do it and get the fanbase excited about it and start new streaks. It was a rallying point for us and something we tried to use as motivation and we celebrated. I'm really happy for them. I told them people don't understand the daily grind we go through.

On Tolu Smith's determination throughout the game:

I don't remember a game where he played any better. I thought he was determined to get the ball as close to the rim as he could. He missed a couple that he probably should've made. He just put a lot of pressure on their defense. They had to make some tough decisions. He made really good decisions if there was another defender near him of just making simple plays like a shot, assist or hockey assist. He had a look about him tonight. He wanted to win this game and to be a big part of it. I'm just happy for him.

On Smith's go-ahead and-1 play:

We had a play called so we didn't need to reset it. There was a brief moment when I thought about calling a timeout. If there was less time on the clock I wouldn't have even thought about it but there was enough to call timeout and reset the situation. But it worked out this time and who knows for next time?

Transcript courtesy of Mississippi State athletics 

Mississippi State Men’s Basketball Upsets No. 5 Tennessee