Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury knows his team needs to keep progressing, but he likes some of what he's seen so far, including the play of a rejuvenated Jalen Steele.
Steele will try to help the 17th-ranked Bulldogs claim a ninth consecutive win Tuesday night against Florida Atlantic, which pulled an upset in Starkville last season.
Mississippi State (9-1) likely couldn't play much better than in a 106-68 rout of Troy on Saturday, but the scheduled turns tougher soon, highlighted by a matchup with No. 6 Baylor on Dec. 28 in Dallas.
If they continue to shoot well, the Bulldogs could prove difficult to beat even in those games. They've made at least 49.0 percent of their attempts in each of their last five contests and shot at a 56.3 percent clip in Saturday's win.
Leading scorer Dee Bost (18.1 ppg) had a career high-tying seven 3-pointers en route to a season-best 28 points Saturday. SEC rebounding leader Arnett Moultrie (11.3 per game) recorded his fifth double-double with 20 points and 12 boards.
"We're not nearly as good as we've got to become," Stansbury said. "But one of our greatest strengths is our versatility."
It was Steele's performance that earned praise from Stansbury. The 6-foot-3 sophomore guard went 5 of 7 from 3-point range for a season-high 15 points and his third straight game in double figures.
He averaged 5.6 points on 37.5 percent shooting in his first seven contests this season but that was perhaps to be expected following a season-ending knee injury in 2010-11.
"That's (three) games in a row that he's been zeroed in," Stansbury said. "Now when the ball leaves his hands we expect it to go in. A few weeks ago you didn't know - and he didn't know. But now he's got some confidence and he believes in his shot."
That confidence might help Steele lead the Bulldogs past the Owls (4-5), who earned a 61-59 victory at Humphrey Coliseum on Nov. 30, 2010, in the only meeting between the teams.
Mississippi State led by as many as 13 points in the first half of that game but Florida Atlantic rallied to take the lead midway through the second half. The Bulldogs managed to stay close and trailed by one when Brian Bryant missed a pair of free throws with 1.5 seconds left.
Junior forward Kore White led the Owls with 18 points in that victory but has scored in single digits in each of the past four games, including a 77-54 loss to then-No. 15 Kansas on Nov. 30. Junior guard Greg Gantt, who had 12 points during the win in Starkville, is averaging a team-best 13.9 this season and had 21 as FAU bounced back with a 98-70 rout of NAIA opponent Warner on Saturday.
Gantt will try to lead his program to its first win over a ranked opponent since an 83-81 victory over then-No. 11 Oklahoma State on Dec. 1, 1998.
The Bulldogs, meanwhile, are seeking their first nine-game win streak since Nov. 28-Dec. 31, 2009.
