Mississippi State
14-8,5-4SEC
Arkansas
18-5,7-3SEC
Bulldogs Fall At Arkansas
February 05, 2022 | Men's Basketball
FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas – Mississippi State found itself in another hard-fought battle in-front of hostile capacity crowd before ultimately coming up short 63-55 to Arkansas, one of the SEC hottest teams, on Saturday evening at Bud Walton Arena.
The Bulldogs rallied from a late, nine-point deficit to only trail by a point in the final moments. However, the Razorbacks received a Jaylin Williams three-pointer which enabled Arkansas to score 10 of the game's last 13 points to account for the final margin.
The contest was a low-scoring affair which featured a 25-25 tie at the half. Arkansas ended the game shooting 38 percent as a team, while the Bulldogs made 35 percent of their shots.
Still, three State players reached double figures. Iverson Molinar paced the Bulldogs with his 19-point effort. Garrison Brooks scored 12, brought down 11 rebounds to notch a double-double.
Tolu Smith started and played for the first time since sustaining a knee injury two weeks ago. He finished with 11 points, six boards and three assists in his return to action.
Molinar, Brooks and Smith were central figures as MSU tried to capture victory down the stretch. The trio accounted for all of State's final 17 points.
A Brooks dunk from Smith got the Bulldogs to within one at 53-52 with 2:07 left. Then, after an Arkansas three-pointer gave the Razorbacks a four-point edge, Smith was fouled and hit a pair of free throws on the opposite end of the floor to put State back within two with 1:29 to go.
The Razorbacks scored seven unanswered points to salt away their eighth consecutive victory.
FROM THE BENCH – COACH HOWLAND
"We showed a lot of fight tonight against a very good team in a loud, sold out arena. I thought the first half was very hard fought, and that our defense was very good. Both teams struggled to score. In the second half, I thought our offense struggled at points. Their offense was much more patient than ours to start out the half. That was what allowed them to get off to that lead."
"We did a great job fighting back and had it down to a one-point game [at 53-52], but that three [by Jaylin Williams] was just really poorly defended. There are multiple plays you can point to that cost us. They had six turnovers, and we had 12. The biggest difference in the game was that they had more possessions. They outrebounded us by one. They had five more baskets, but we did better making our free throws from a percentage standpoint. It's a disappointment from our players because that's another [NCAA NET] quad one opportunity we didn't get the job done for."
"We've just got to get over the hump … The good news is, the next three games are against high-ranked, [NCAA Net] quad one teams, all higher than Arkansas. We have our opportunities ahead of us. I think we're an NCAA tournament team. We've just got to prove it by getting a win on the road and holding serve at home."
- Mississippi State faced a nine-point deficit during the final six minutes of the contest and was able to trim the margin down to one point inside two minutes left. However, Arkansas fended off the Bulldogs to claim a 63-55 decision and secure its eighth consecutive win.
- The setback dropped Mississippi State to 14-8 overall and 5-4 in SEC play. The Bulldogs remain in sole possession of fifth place in the SEC standings.
- Mississippi State is in the midst of playing six of seven games against NCAA Net Quad 1 opponents from Jan. 25-Feb. 15. Five of the six games are on the road.
- Five of the team's eight losses have been on the road or at a neutral site versus NCAA Net Quad 1 opponents, four of the five setbacks have come by single digits.
- As a team, Mississippi State was 18-of-51 from the floor (35.3 percent), 3-of-12 from beyond the three-point line (25.0 percent) and 16-of-22 at the foul line (72.7 percent).
Iverson Molinar
- Led the Bulldogs in scoring with 19 points.
- Extended his streak to 22 consecutive games in double figures to start the season.
- The 22-game run is the longest streak for a MSU player since Tony Watts tallied 10-plus points during all 28 games of the 1991-92 season.
- The 19 points allowed Molinar to pass Larry Fry (1973-74-75) and move into 35th place on the program's all-time scoring list.
- Compiled his 18th career double-double and third double-double in 2021-22 thanks to 12 points and 11 rebounds.
- Was 5-of-9 from the field and drained multiple treys for the fifth time this season.
- Led the Bulldogs in rebounding for the 7th time this season.
- Added two blocks to give him multiple rejections for the third time this season.
- Returned to the starting lineup after a three-game absence.
- Provided 11 points, six rebounds and three assists
- Pumped in 10-plus points in seven of nine outings this season
- Sank 7-for-9 at the foul line.
- Chipped in five points, six rebounds and three assists.
- Marked his ninth game with five or more rebounds this season.
- Made it six outings with three-plus assists on the season.
- Javian Davis and Andersson Garcia added three points apiece.
- Garcia and Cameron Matthews notched two assists each.
UP NEXT
Mississippi State returns home for another NCAA NET Quad 1 challenge as No. 22 Tennessee visits Humphrey Coliseum on Wednesday. Tip time is on-tap for 8 p.m. CT from Humphrey Coliseum, televised by ESPN2 and streaming online courtesy of the ESPN app and www.ESPN.com/watch.
Visit www.HailState.com for the latest news and information on the men's basketball program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets by searching 'HailStateMBK' on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
