In the final tuneup, before Southeastern Conference play gets underway on Saturday afternoon, Mississippi State welcomed Bethune Cookman to the Hump. With Southeastern Conference play looming, Mississippi State used Monday night to iron out the kinks before nose-diving into the gullet of the Southeastern Conference with the Gamecocks of South Carolina on Saturday afternoon.

Mississippi State jumped out to an early lead over the visiting Bethune Cookman Wildcats, but the Wildcats would claw their way back into the game, refusing to go away without a fight in the first half. As the final buzzer sounded in the first half, Mississippi State held on to a 52-45 lead for dear life. Josh Hubbard and Riley Kugel scored fourteen points for the Bulldogs in the first half, while RJ Melendez brought up the rear with 12.

Chris Jans made some adjustments at the break. Mississippi State came out in the second half a bit stronger and extended the lead by one point to make it 60-52 at the under-16 media timeout. At the under-12 media timeout, Mississippi State found themselves in a weird position with a 65-59 lead over the pesky Wildcats of Bethune Cookman with 15:52 remaining in the game. Under-8 media timeout saw the lead back at eight by a score of 60-52 in favor of Mississippi State. As the final media timeout rolled around, the cream of the crop rose to the top, with Mississippi State building an 81-67 lead with 3:57 remaining on the clock.

Riley Kugel finished the day with 22 points to lead the Bulldogs in scoring. Josh Hubbard finished the night with 16 points, while RJ Melendez and Claudell Harris finished with twelve points each.

At 10-3 overall, South Carolina in the standings of the Southeastern Conference before the conference opener is considered the 16th out of 16 teams, but many consider South Carolina to be a lock for the NCAA Tournament and a threat to play spoiler in Nashville once the SEC Tournament rolls around in March. South Carolina has wins over Boston College, Virginia Tech, and Clemson. At the same time, losses to North Florida, Xavier, and Indiana loom large for the Gamecocks as they try to earn a Q1 one on the road on Saturday.

With their win over Bethune Cookman on Monday night, the 17th-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs improved to 12-1 overall. Oddly enough, the lone loss came to the Butler Bulldogs in late November during a classic in Arizona. With wins over Memphis, Utah, SMU, Pitt, and UNLV, the expectations in Starkville have never been higher. Many believe the 2024-2025 Mississippi State Basketball team has the talent and coaching to reach the 2025 Final Four.

Here’s what fans need to realize about the Southeastern Conference slate for not only Mississippi State but everybody in general: with a league so deep that will likely see 13-14 members reach the NCAA Tournament, there’s going to be weeks at a time where it might not feel like you’re team is making strides, but there’s not many who have already been battle tested the way Chris Jans and his Bulldogs have been in the non-conference slate. Losses will come and go, but at the end of the day, once March Madness rolls around, Mississippi State has all the pieces to return to the Final Four for the second time in school history. Take each game in stride and understand everything will work out for the better for the Bulldogs as they look to play spoiler for Tennessee, Auburn, Alabama, and even Kentucky once the Southeastern Conference play gets underway.

Mississippi State and South Carolina will tip off inside the Hump on Saturday at 1:00 PM with a national audience on the SEC Network.

Photo credits- Mississippi State Basketball on X