STARKVILLE, Miss. — Arkansas was trumped in the Hump for the eighth consecutive year, but the Razorbacks made Mississippi State earn this one.

Mississippi State had to rally in the final minutes to beat Arkansas 80-74 Saturday before 8, 793 fans at Humphrey Coliseum.

“In the second half, Arkansas brought a level of energy I hadn’t seen all year,” Bulldogs Coach Rick Stansbury said. “The first 20 minutes, we were pretty good. We controlled both ends of the court. But it’s a 40-minute game.”

The Razorbacks (17-7, 6-4 SEC ) had lost by an average of 17 points on their previous seven visits to Mississippi State and appeared on their way to another lopsided defeat, trailing 49-34 a minute into the second half.

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Then Arkansas outscored the Bulldogs 19-2 over a 5: 10 span, capped by sophomore guard Patrick Beverley’s three-point basket, to take a 53-51 lead with 13: 54 left.

“I guess they got a good motivational speech in their locker room,” Mississippi State junior guard Jamont Gordon said. “We came out relaxed, thinking the game was over, and they stuck it in our face.”

But the Bulldogs (17-7, 8-2 ) didn’t roll over and managed to overcome the energetic Razorbacks in an entertaining game that featured five lead changes and four ties in the final 13: 35.

“We just made a run,” Arkansas senior forward Sonny Weems said of the 19-2 onslaught that gave the Razorbacks the lead. “We’re a good team, but we didn’t come away with the win.”

The Bulldogs went ahead for good, 69-68, on two free throws by sophomore guard Barry Stewart with 6: 02 left and stretched their lead to 73-68 at the 3: 37 mark after a driving basket by Gordon and two free throws by sophomore forward Jarvis Varnado.

Arkansas couldn’t pull closer than three points the rest of the game.

“My [halftime ] message to those guys was we needed to be a lot tougher,” Razorbacks Coach John Pelphrey said. “I didn’t think they dogged it; I didn’t think they were scared. That’s not what I’m saying.

“ I just thought Mississippi State was at a little higher level in the first half than we were. In the second half, I thought we matched that. Instead of letting them attack us, we attacked them. We got stops and were able to get out on the break.”

After taking a 68-66 lead on senior forward Darian Townes ’ jumper with 7: 10 left, the Razorbacks went 3: 40 without scoring as the Bulldogs pushed ahead by five points.

In that span, Arkansas senior forward Vincent Hunter missed two three-point attempts and Weems missed one, but Pelphrey and the players agreed those were good looks that just didn’t go down.

Hunter came into the game having hit 7 of 16 three-point attempts, but he was 1 of 5 Saturday.

“Vincent is a great three-point shooter. He was wide open,” said Weems, who had 14 points. “He can make those shots with his eyes closed.

“ Obviously, he didn’t make them today, but he can’t shy away from taking them.”

Senior guard Gary Ervin, who led Arkansas with 15 points, said the Razorbacks got the shots they wanted.

“In those situations, you can’t put your head down,” Ervin said. “We got picks and pops with a great three-point shooter in Vincent. He hasn’t played a lot, but he’s one of our best shooters.

“ We need to stay positive and keep taking those same shots.”

Pelphrey said Hunter has to take open threes.

“That’s a gift he’s got,” Pelphrey said.

Mississippi State senior forward Charles Rhodes scored 19 of his game-high 24 points in the first half while hitting 8 of his first 9 attempts. He finished 9 of 18 for the game from the field, but hit two free throws with 1: 01 left to keep Mississippi State ahead by five points.

“Whatever Arkansas did, we found a way to pull it out,” Rhodes said. “We had toughness and we hit our free throws.”

The Bulldogs hit 23 of 29 free throws, including 15 of 19 in the final 9: 02 to hold off the Razorbacks.

“At the start of the second half, we had some turnovers, they made shots and they brought some emotion to the game,” Stansbury said. “They found another level of energy, knocked us back and I thought we panicked a bit.

“ We started rushing some things. It changed our rhythm, but once we settled back down we were able to make enough plays to win.”

The Razorbacks did a better job with help defense in the second half and funneling the Bulldogs into the lane, where they had to take on 7-0 center Steven Hill, who had five blocked shots and altered several others.

“I’d like to be able to duplicate that defense for 40 minutes,” Pelphrey said.

Mississippi State kept sole possession of first place in the SEC West and has a two-game lead over the second-place Razorbacks.