Connect with us

Men's Basketball

Hogs’ defense carries stumbling offense to ugly win over Bulldogs

Arkansas’ offense was horrible most of the first half, but Mississippi State collapsed before halftime and the Hogs stumbled to a 61-45 win.

Published

on

Arkansas’ offense was horrible for most of the first half, but Mississippi State collapsed before halftime and the Hogs stumbled to a 61-45 win.

It was not pretty in any way except for some flashes of defense by the Razorbacks.

“We can win a game ugly, and grimy and ugly,” Eric Musselman said later.

This one was all of that.

The Hogs used a 21-2 run in the first half and a 10-2 run to start the second for its fourth straight SEC victory with a 61-45 win over Mississippi State on Tuesday night at Bud Walton Arena.

“This Mississippi State team is toughness, rebounding and we went toe to toe with them tonight, which is huge,” Musselman said. “Our ability to rebound against good teams tonight it showed we can do that.”

Arkansas (14-5, 6-4 SEC) had four players with at least seven rebounds as the Razorbacks out-rebounded Mississippi State, 45-34. The Bulldogs (10-9, 4-6 SEC) entered the game 15th in the NCAA in rebound margin (+8.7), 18th in offensive rebounds (13.3) and 33rd in overall rebounds (39.7).

MSU only managed eight offensive rebounds as Arkansas had 30 defensive boards (Mississippi State missed 34 field goals).

The Bulldogs had two of the top 10 rebounders in the SEC in Tolu Smith, who was 11th in the NCAA in offensive rebounds, and Abdul Ado. The pair combined for just six rebounds and just two on the offensive end.

Justin Smith had his second double-double of the year with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Connor Vanover and Davonte Davis each had eight boards while Moses Moody grabbed seven.

Vanover and Moody each scored 13 points and Davis contributed 10.

Arkansas was down 14-2 to start the game as the Razorbacks missed 16 of its first 17 shots of the game.

With 7:48 left in the first half, the Hogs used a 21-2 run, making 9-of-14 shots over the span, to take a 28-20 lead with 26 seconds left before the break.

Moody had nine points in the run while JD Notae contributed eight. The Bulldogs grabbed a loose ball under their basket and made a layup at the buzzer to provide the halftime score of 28-22.

Mississippi State opened the second half with a quick bucket, but Arkansas scored 12 of the next 14 points.

However, MSU bounced back with a 10-0 run to cut its deficit to five (42.37). Undaunted, Arkansas went on an 11-3 run to lead by 15 (55-40) with 4:07 left and eventually pushed the lead to a game-high 19 (61-42) with 1:06 left.

Smith led Mississippi State with 10 points and five rebounds. Arkansas held Iverson Molinar and D.J. Stewart Jr,. to a combined 14 points in the game on 5-of-15 shooting. The pair ranked third and fourth in the league in scoring as each averaged 17.6 ppg.

Next up on the schedule is Texas A&M on Saturday (Feb. 6). Tipoff is set for 5:00 pm (CT) on SEC Network.

Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.

Advertisement

2024 Razorbacks Football

Thu, Aug 29vs UAPB (Little Rock)W, 70-0
Sat, Sep 7@ Oklahoma StateL, 31-39 2OT
Sat, Sep 14vs UABW, 37-27
Sat, Sep 21@ AuburnW, 24-14
Sat, Sep 28vs Texas A&M (Arl)L, 21-17
Sat, Oct 5vs TennesseeW, 19-14
Sat, Oct 19vs LSUL, 34-10
Sat, Oct 26@ Mississippi StateW, 58-25
Sat, Nov 2vs Ole Miss11:00 AM
ESPN
Sat, Nov 16vs Texas11:00 AM
Sat, Nov 23vs Louisiana TechTBD
ESPN+/SECN+
Sat, Nov 30@ MissouriTBD
Advertisement

Advertisement

2024 High School Rankings

Following is the Arkansas Sports Media High School Football Poll including the Overall Top 10, the top five in Classes 7A, 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A and 2A, plus the top three in the 8-man division, as voted by a panel of sports media from around the state for the week ending August 24. Ranking is given with first-place votes received, records, total points and ranking from last week's poll:
OVERALLRecordPtsPrv
1.Bryant (18)8-02521
2.Conway (6)8-02302
3.Greenwood (2)8-02103
4.Little Rock Parkview7-11714
5.Bentonville5-31416
6.Benton7-11265
7.Fayetteville6-21008
8.Pulaski Academy6-2757
9.Rogers5-3459
10.Shiloh Christian6-24010
Others receiving votes: Marion 13, Valley View 9, Joe T Robinson 8, Mountain Home 4, Cabot 3, Elkins 3.
CLASS 7A
1.Bryant (20)8-01241
2.Conway (6)8-01052
3.Bentonville5-3753
4.Fayetteville6-2455
5.Pulaski Academy6-2354
Others receiving votes: Rogers 5.
CLASS 6A
1.Greenwood (26)8-01301
2.Benton7-11022
3.Shiloh Christian6-2713
4.Marion7-1524
5.Mountain Home7-131
Others receiving votes: Little Rock Catholic 4.
CLASS 5A
1.Little Rock Parkview (23)7-11271
2.Joe T Robinson7-1902
3.Valley View (3)8-0803
4.Hot Springs Lakeside7-1484
5.Farmington7-130
Others receiving votes: Camden Fairview 4, Maumelle 4, Morrilton 3, Greenbrier 2, Harding Academy 1.
CLASS 4A
1.Elkins (19)8-01161
2.Arkadelphia (5)6-2792
3.Little Rock Mills (1)8-0703
4.Warren6-2404
5.Malvern (1)8-0315
Others receiving votes: Dardanelle 22, Southside Batesville 11, Mena 8, Bauxite 7, DeWitt 4, Highland 2.
CLASS 3A
4.Bismarck (15)8-01054
5.Fordyce (4)8-0765
Prescott (3)7-1531t
1.Osceola (2)6-149
3.Mayflower (1)8-036
Others receiving votes: Booneville (1) 31, Rivercrest 19, Mansfield 14, Charleston 4, Rison 3.
CLASS 2A
1.Carlisle (21)8-01211
2.Conway Christian (4)8-01042
3.Des Arc7-1663
4.Bigelow (1)6-2455
5.Murfreesboro6-230
Others receiving votes: Marked Tree 10, Mineral Springs 6, Junction City 5, Cross County 1, Mount Ida 1, Poyen 1
8-MAN SANCTIONED
1.Strong-Huttig (25)5-0761
2.Midland (1)7-0502
3.Cedar Ridge7-1253
Others receiving votes: Rector 5.

© COPYRIGHT 2017-24 BY PEARSON BROADCASTING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ESPN ARKANSAS 99.5 IN FAYETTEVILLE, 95.3 IN THE RIVER VALLEY, 96.3 IN HOT SPRINGS, 104.3 IN HARRISON-MOUNTAIN HOME.