Jeffries finds hard work paying off for MSU

Coming into Wednesday night's matchup with LSU, D.J. Jeffries hasn't been having the offensive year that he's desired for the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

The Olive Branch native came in averaging 8.8 points a game, but he's managed to make just 25% of his 3-pointers. With the 3-point shot and MSU'S success at it being of the utmost importance to its offensive evolution, head coach Chris Jans has never stopped encouraging his players to heave it up.

Jeffries has stayed in his zone, continued to put in the work and it paid off on Wednesday. Jeffries scored a game-high 18 points on 5-of-9

shooting with a 5-of-6 night from 3-point range to help the Bulldogs grab a fourthstraight win 64-53 over LSU.

“I'm certainly happy for D.J.,” Jans said. “I've talked about guys working on their craft, and D.J. is one of them. D.J. is one of those guys that sticks with it and when I'm walking out of the gym, I see him repping his jumper and working on his rhythm. He's been making them. If you watch him work out, you'll be like what's the deal? It looks good leaving his hand and he's got good form. He's obviously experienced, but it gets to be mental at times. I'm really happy for him to reap the dividends for it and take the lid off the basket.”

In his four years on the court either at Memphis or at MSU, Jeffries hasn't had a game with five 3-pointers or more. It's a testament of the work that Jeffries has put in this year and his 3-point shot caught up with the production on the other end of the court.

As Jans said postgame, Jeffries has been one of MSU'S best defenders. He had seven rebounds on the defensive end and turned that into a productive offensive game with four assists and no turnovers. It didn't take long to know that he was going to be feeling it on Wednesday as he hit a 3-pointer on the team's second possession and hit two long balls in the first few minutes as the Bulldogs raced out to a 10-0 lead.

That start was a key for him to help lead MSU to the win and give himself a great game.

“When I see one go in, that boosts my confidence up and I came out and hit four more,” Jeffries said. “That one was a big one and if I would have missed that, I probably would have kept shooting anyway.”

To add a cherry on top to what was his best game of the year, Jeffries notched 1,000 career points when he made his last field goal of the game late in the second half.

Playing basketball was a dream realized for Jeffries. Getting to that milestone was an even bigger deal for the Mississippi kid.

“I knew coming into the game that I had to at least get 13 (points),” Jeffries said. “I didn't know that I'd get 18. Once I got 1,000 points, it was a big relief. That's a big milestone in my career. I thank God for that.”

With four-straight wins, the Bulldogs are playing some of their best basketball at the right time. Shots are falling for players like Jeffries and the defense continues to be a staple.

Chances continue to improve for MSU to make the NCAA tournament and with a 16-8 record and 4-7 mark now in Southeastern Conference play, the Bulldogs are making their case.

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As Jeffries noted, however, it's important for the team to remain focused on playing it game by game and getting better every day.

“I ain't going to jinx it, but

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I feel like we're doing a pretty good job on this four-game winning streak,” Jeffries said. “We're going to keep building on this momentum and keep going from there.”