Coach Chris Jans and his Mississippi State Bulldogs opened Southeastern Conference play on Saturday on the road at South Carolina with a disappointing loss. In front of a raucous crowd in Columbia, the Bulldogs played good defense and shot the ball well. However, the Bulldogs were outrebounded and out-hustled by the pesky Gamecocks, leading to a loss and a difficult situation with Tennessee coming to town on Wednesday night.

Despite being at full strength, Mississippi State walked into a hornet nest on Saturday morning and lost. It’s not the end of the world for Mississippi State, as there are still two months of basketball before the Southeastern Conference Basketball Tournament in Nashville. Losing to South Carolina makes it difficult in terms of winning the Southeastern Conference regular season Championship.

So what happened, and how do they fix what happened to be successful this season?

First, learn to rebound the basketball. Mississippi State gave away too many second-chance points by allowing South Carolina to outrebound them 35-26. South Carolina finished the win over Mississippi State with 16 second chance points, giving the Gamecocks a cushion of six points to defeat the Bulldogs. Mississippi State finished the loss with just six points from second-chance opportunities.

Second, Mississippi State has got to learn that three-point shooting is not the move for this team. Mississippi State went 3-13 from behind the arc on Saturday for a dismal 23%. In particular, each player needs to know their role and what they’re good at. DJ Jefferies, power forward, took two shots from outside and missed both on Saturday. Instead of focusing on the outside shot, post players have got to start acting like post players for Mississippi State. Instead of taking the unwanted outside shot, focus on dominating the post, securing more rebounds, and giving the Mississippi State offense a better flow.

Lastly, turn the page. Don’t let one loss on the road to South Carolina turn into two on Wednesday night as Tennessee comes to Starkville. Tennessee is a damn good basketball team, worthy of National Championship hype. It’s important not to let that loss on Saturday dictate how Wednesday night will go against the Volunteers. A win over Tennessee on Wednesday night and the excitement will be back in the locker room as the Bulldogs turn the page at competing for an SEC Championship.

Mississippi State will welcome Tennessee to the Hump on Wednesday night with a tip-off slated for 6:00 on the SEC Network.