Mississippi State
13-10, 5-4
Arkansas
14-9, 4-6
Men's Hoops Bests Razorbacks 67-56
February 09, 2011 | Men's Basketball
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State erased an early seven-point deficit, rolling to a 67-56 victory over Arkansas in a Southeastern Conference men's basketball game played Wednesday night amongst a minor snow blizzard on the MSU campus.
Dee Bost, a junior guard, scored a team-high 18 points and became the Bulldogs' 33rd member of the 1,000-point club. His leadership and offensive prowess proved critical as MSU made it back-to-back wins in league play.
MSU improved to 13-10 overall and 5-4 in league play - hanging onto sole possession of second place in the Western division. Arkansas fell to 14-9 and 4-6. The Bulldogs have taken 11 straight from the Razorbacks on the Humphrey Coliseum hardwood.
"It was really a gutsy effort," MSU head coach Rick Stansbury said. "This was about finding a way to defend the home court tonight. Really we weren't playing on having Riley (Benock) tonight. It was until after the starting lineups that he told me 'Coach, I can give you something'."
Still, Benock did not start. Thus, Shaun Smith drew his second career start. True freshman Jalen Steele also played a career-high 35 minutes. The Bulldogs officially scored 21 bench points, after receiving none in its last home game - a 71-64 win over Florida.
"Really, the bench was great tonight," Stansbury said. "We didn't know what Riley was going to be able to give us until the second half. We tried some different combinations. The story of the game may have been the defensive effort by Jalen. He did as a good a job as you can do on Rotnei (Clarke). Other than two baskets to start the second half, Clark was a not a factor in the game."
Arkansas sprinted to a 21-14 advantage less than 11 minutes into the contest. The Bulldogs scored the game's next eight points to take their second lead in the contest. MSU grabbed a 22-21 lead on a Wendell Lewis dunk.
The Bulldogs capped a 17-4 run, while advancing the lead to 31-25 on back-to-back 3-point baskets from Bost and Steele. MSU still held that lead, carrying a 33-28 push into the locker room at halftime.
The Hogs opened the second half on an 8-2 run to take their last lead, at 36-35. The Arkansas run included back-to-back treys from UA's leading scorer Clarke, who only totaled nine points for the evening.
MSU then found an answer on the defensive end and found overdrive on the offensive end. MSU pieced together a 23-6 run to grab a 58-42 advantage. A Brian Bryant 3-point basket with 9:39 capped that run and created the game's largest advantage.
Fortunately for the Maroon and White, enough offense had been registered. MSU actually went the final 9:39 without a field goal. Arkansas also had a 4:54 stretch without a field goal.
The Razorbacks closed within 60-53 thanks to an 11-2 run. A 3-pointer by Jeff Peterson preceded Clark hitting one of two free throws to bring the guests within 60-53.
The Bulldogs eventually hit 9 of 10 free throws to close out the victory.
For the contest, the Bulldogs hit 22 of 47 shots from the field (46.8 percent), 7 of 16 shots from 3-point range (43.8 percent) and 16 of 18 shots from the foul line (88.9 percent). The Razorbacks hit 20 of 60 shots from the field (33.3 percent), 7 of 20 shots from 3-point range (35.0 percent) and 9 of 14 shots from the foul line (64.3 percent).
MSU held a 41-28 rebounding advantage. MSU had seven assists and 21 turnovers, while the Razorbacks had eight assists and 13 turnovers.
For MSU, Renardo Sidney recorded his second career double-double with 12 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Kodi Augustus had nine rebounds.
Marcus Britt paced Arkansas with 10 points.
MSU returns to the road for a Saturday night tussle with Auburn. The Bulldogs and Tigers tip at 6 p.m. from the new AU Arena. That contest will be televised regionally by Fox Sports Net South.
