Mississippi State’s first real stumble of the season came with a loud warning attached.
After opening 2026-27 with three straight wins, Chris Jans’ Bulldogs ran into Xavier on Friday night and came away with an 81-63 loss that did more than snap the early momentum. It put a spotlight on a flaw that could shape how this team looks once the schedule gets tougher: the three-point shot went cold in a hurry.
That’s the part Mississippi State can’t ignore. The Bulldogs entered the game hitting 38.7% from deep, with 36 makes on their first 93 attempts.
Against Xavier, though, that touch vanished. Mississippi State finished 4-of-29 from beyond the arc, a rough 13.8% night that left the offense searching for answers.
The contrast with the first three games was stark. Mississippi State had been rolling from long range to start the year, beginning with 14 made threes in 32 tries against Tennessee Tech, a 43.8% clip. The next two games were even better: the Bulldogs shot 52.6% from three against Northwestern State and then followed that with a 61.5% showing against Jackson State.
Xavier changed the script. The Musketeers squeezed the Bulldogs’ offense and made life difficult all night, especially when Mississippi State tried to space the floor and get clean looks from outside. The rhythm just wasn’t there.
Chris Jans looked frustrated as the game wore on, and the offensive execution never really settled down. One bad shooting night doesn’t automatically turn into a season-long issue, but this one clearly showed where the pressure points are.
Josh Hubbard is one of them.
Through four games, Hubbard leads Mississippi State with 18.0 points and 5.0 assists per game, and he’s been the engine of the offense. Against Xavier, though, he was held to 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting, including 2-of-9 from three-point range. That kind of night makes the larger problem even more obvious: Hubbard can’t be asked to carry everything by himself.
The Bulldogs need more perimeter production from the rest of the roster. If defenses can load up on Hubbard without paying a price for it, Mississippi State could run into trouble once SEC play arrives.
There isn’t much time to sit on the Xavier loss. Mississippi State heads to face Big 12 opponent UCF on Tuesday, November 17, giving Jans a quick chance to make adjustments and try to get his shooters back on track.
The early evidence says the Bulldogs can shoot it. The question now is whether they can keep doing it when the competition rises.
Friday night suggested that answer is still very much up in the air.
In Other News...
Ole Miss Fans Suddenly Face Real Concern About The Oklahoma Trip
Auburns trip to Starkville turned into a long day before the teams even got to the field, with the SEC pushing kickoff from noon ET to 4:15 p.m. ET after FAA travel disruptions forced a ground stop and created a chain reaction around the game. The league has already locked in the new start time for Auburn at Mississippi State, but the television assignment is still unresolved, adding another layer of uncertainty to a matchup that was already thrown off schedule.
For Ole Miss, the bigger concern is what happens next. The Rebels trip to Oklahoma is suddenly in doubt after reports that the team did not fly out Friday night, leaving the scheduled kickoff hanging and, potentially, the game itself in jeopardy. After watching one SEC game get pushed back by hours, Mississippi fans now have a very real reason to keep an eye on the weather, the airport and the league schedule all at once. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Oklahoma Disruption Creates A New SEC Weekend Twist
A scheduling wrinkle has turned Ole Miss trip to Oklahoma into one of the more unusual SEC weekends on the calendar. The Rebels game, originally set for Friday, was pushed back to November 15 in Norman after travel delays tied to an FAA ground stop on November 13, and the team is now expected to fly out on the afternoon of November 14.
The matchup will kick off at noon, with the television channel still to be announced in Week 11, though the broadcast is slated for a national audience with Taylor Zarzour and Matt Stinchcomb on the call. For Mississippi State fans keeping an eye on the league race, it is another reminder of how quickly a conference slate can get reshaped, even before the teams ever take the field. [Read more 🡒]
Nick Saban Sees Why Kamario Taylor Matters So Much To Mississippi State
Kamario Taylors decision to come back for the 2027 season has already drawn attention beyond Starkville, and for Mississippi State it comes with the kind of endorsement that tends to travel. Nick Saban praised Taylors talent and character while pointing to the quarterback as someone who could help bring the program back toward the standard it has long wanted to reach. After Taylor opened the 2026 season strongly before injuries ended his year, the return gives the Bulldogs something more than optimism - it gives them a centerpiece to build around.
Saban also used the moment to voice concern about how sustainable the current level of player compensation has become, though he made clear that his broader worries did not change how he viewed Taylor. For Mississippi State, the separation matters: the financial landscape of college football keeps shifting, but Taylors choice to stay says something about belief in the program and in what it can still become. The bigger question now is how much that commitment can move the Bulldogs forward once the season gets here. [Read more 🡒]