Bulldog woes continue as No. 21 Arkansas rolls to easy 88-68 win at Humphrey Coliseum
In a running theme of the season, on Saturday Mississippi State saw the opposing team produce a huge run and the Bulldogs never responded. This time it was No. 21 Arkansas doing the damage en route to an easy, 88-68, victory at Humphrey Coliseum.
Darius Acuff had 24 points and Trevon Brazile added 19 to lead No. 21 Arkansas to easy 88-68 road win at Mississippi State on Saturday.
The Razorbacks (17-6 overall, 7-3 in the SEC) shot 52% from the field and made eight 3 pointers while notching its largest margin of victory in an SEC road game this year. Meleek Thomas added 17 points for Aransas while Billy Richmond had 14.
“You can talk until you’re blue in the face about facing a team like that,” said head coach Chris Jans. “But until you get on the court and get a feel for it, it’s like walking out into the cold. You got to adjust to it quickly or not. It was hard to overcome.”
Josh Hubbard led Mississippi State (11-12, 3-7) with 16 points but failed to make a 3 pointer on the day. Hubbard entered Saturday having made at least one 3 pointer in 69 consecutive games, which is an SEC record. Hubbard was 7 of 15 from the field but 0 of 4 from 3 point range.
Achor Achor had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Bulldogs and freshman Jamarion Davis-Fleming added 12. After a 2-0 start in SEC play, Mississippi State has now lost seven of its last eight conference games.
The Bulldogs made just 3 of 15 attempts from 3 point territory and had 11 turnovers. For the game, Arkansas outscored Mississippi State, 19-4, in points off turnovers.
“First of all, credit to them and Arkansas had a great gameplan coming in,” noted Davis-Fleming. “I don’t think they did anything spectacular. We just missed a couple of assignments like ball-screens. They didn’t do anything special but they’ve got a great players. They made great shots and just ran base stuff.”
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Acuff’s 3 point play capped off a 20-2 run by Arkansas midway through the first half and Mississippi State never really threatened after that spurt. Led by 50% shooting in the first half, Arkansas had a comfortable 43-30 halftime advantage. Mississippi State had nine first-half turnovers and Arkansas outscored the Bulldogs, 15-2, in points off turnovers in the half.
For the game, State shot 46% from the field and made 9 of 14 at the foul line. The Bulldogs were also out-rebounded, 38-33, and allowed 11 offensive boards to Arkansas.
“Just the point of attack on defense,” Jans added. “We’re just not doing a good job on a consistent basis with just old-fashioned guarding the basketball. Too many times the offenses are getting to where they want to go. We’re just not providing the resistance that is needed to just keep the offense from where they are trying to get.”
Now the Bulldogs leave the weekend still searching for consistency and more questions than answers to start the second half of the SEC slate.
“We just got to find a way,” Davis-Fleming added. “Pick our heads up when it gets bad and work through the negatives. We got to try to stay together and keep the huddles tight, just keep working and try to get over that hump.”
Up Next
Mississippi State continues its homestand on Wednesday as the Bulldogs host No. 25 Tennessee. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. at Humphrey Coliseum and the game is televised by ESPN2. Heading into Saturday’s game against Kentucky, the Vols were 16-6 overall and 6-3 in the SEC.
