State Maintains Control Of SEC West With Hard-Fought Win Over Razorbacks

Saturday, February 16

Starkville

3:00 p.m.

Mississippi State

(17-7, 8-2SEC)

Arkansas

(17-7, 6-4SEC)

Arkansas

Mississippi State

Rhodes Earns SEC Player Of The Week; Third MSU Player Honored This Season

State Maintains Control Of SEC West With Hard-Fought Win Over Razorbacks

February 16, 2008 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: hailstate.com

? Official Statistics
? Official Statistics (PDF)
? Postgame Notes & Quotes (PDF)

STARKVILLE, Miss. - Senior Charles Rhodes scored 19 points by halftime and finished with a game-high 24 points to lead the Mississippi State Bulldogs (17-7, 8-2 Southeastern Conference) past the Arkansas Razorbacks (17-7, 6-4) by a margin of 80-74 Saturday afternoon.

The crucial victory placed State two games ahead of the second-place Razorbacks in the SEC's Western Division with just six games remaining in the regular season.

Rhodes shot 9-of-18 from the floor, including his first made three-pointer since Arkansas last visited the Humphrey Coliseum. Sophomore shooting guard Barry Stewart pitched in 19 points on a 3-of-5 mark from behind the arc and a 6-of-6 effort from the charity stripe. Sophomore defensive standout Jarvis Varnado recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Leading the Razorbacks was MSU transfer Gary Ervin, who scored 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Three other Arkansas players scored in double digits in the loss.

MSU dominated the first half of play, outrebounding the Razorbacks 22-11 in the first stanza to hold a 47-34 halftime lead. However, Arkansas would open the second half with a new-found motivation, storming out to a 19-4 run to regain the lead at the 13:54 mark with a Patrick Beverly three-pointer giving UA a 53-51 advantage.

The two teams would then trade the lead back and forth several times throughout the second stanza before MSU finally broke through with a 9-2 run, seven of those points coming from the free throw line. Although Arkansas pulled to within three with 1:32 remaining, State would play solid defense to hold UA without a field goal for the remainder of the game and clinch the win.

Ranking second in the conference with a plus-6.0 rebounding margin on the season, the Razorbacks were outrebounded 38-33 by MSU, the conference's third-best rebounding squad.

State has now won 12 of their last 14 games and have defeated Arkansas eight consecutive times in Humphrey Coliseum.

Beginning a stretch that will see four of its next five games on the road, State will next face in-state rival Mississippi this Wednesday, Feb. 20. The matchup is set for 7 p.m. CT at Tad Smith Coliseum in Oxford and will be televised on a delayed basis by CSS Wednesday night at 9 p.m. CT and again at 11:30 a.m. CT Thursday.