Texas, Mississippi State need to show improvement in SEC play

Based on their NET rankings through nonconference play, both Texas and Mississippi State need to do significant work in the SEC if they intend to return to the NCAA Tournament.

The Longhorns (9-4) and Bulldogs (8-5) look to get their SEC campaigns started on the right foot when they square off on Saturday in their league opener in Austin, Texas.

Texas wants to improve after a 94-71 home win over Maryland Eastern Shore on Dec. 22 that Texas coach Sean Miller declared was his team's "worst performance of the year." Matas Vokietaitis finished with 22 points and Jordan Pope put up 16 of his 21 points in the first half for Texas, which led by just six points at halftime before finding another gear after the break.

The Longhorns have won two straight games yet sat at No. 59 in the NET rankings prior to Friday's games.

Miller lamented the Longhorns' lack of defense, especially on the perimeter, and overall lack of effort.

"I just thought we didn't have, as a group, the will, the toughness, the intensity, the togetherness, the fight and desire that is going to take to be at the very best that we can be in the SEC," Miller said. "As you learn, grow and improve, and get better as a team, the foundation of it is high effort."

The Bulldogs head to Austin carrying a season-best four-game winning streak, most recently a 94-56 dismantling of Alabama State on Monday. Josh Hubbard scored 22 points to lead Mississippi State, and 7-foot senior Quincy Ballard grabbed a season-high 15 rebounds.

"It was the first stress-free win this season that I can recall, and it was nice," Mississippi State coach Chris Jans said. "It was nice to have one where we didn't have a lot of stress, and we got off to a great start."

Mississippi State, which ranks last in the NET among SEC teams at No. 106, forged a 49-27 edge on the glass in the victory and shot 53.6% from the field while holding Alabama State to 28% shooting.

"We've been talking about rebounding a lot," Jans said Wednesday. "Our effort (against Alabama State) in the first half as a team was really good, probably the best first half we've had all season long. It wasn't as good in the second half by percentages. We all know doing it in that game and doing it on Saturday (against Texas) is a whole other story.

"We are going to have a lot of opportunities to see if we can play better."