FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas coach John Pelphrey believes Arkansas has plenty to be thankful for this holiday season, but Thanksgiving won’t be fun for the Razorbacks’ coach.

And Razorback fans can’t be happy entering their Thanksgiving holiday after a 97-94 loss to Morgan State in front of an estimated 7,468 at Bud Walton Arena on Tuesday.

Arkansas (2-2) was dominated on the offensive glass, couldn’t get much going off its bench and Morgan State (4-1) found it easy to hit shot after shot and free throw after free throw to secure the upset.

“When you win right before Thanksgiving, the turkey tastes a little bit better,” Morgan State Coach Todd Bozeman said.

The Bears have plenty to be thankful for with Bozeman at the helm. The three-point win over the Hogs wasn’t their first big win against a big-time program. Morgan State did the same thing last season in a thrilling win over Maryland, and after the way Morgan State pushed Louisville to the brink Sunday, it wasn’t much of a surprise to see the Bears beat a depleted Arkansas team still dealing with suspensions.

“I know that Arkansas is having a tough time with different players being out. We were just fortunate enough to come out and play well enough to squeak out a victory,” Bozeman said. “I feel for Coach Pelphrey. I know when those guys get back they’re going to continue to work.”

Senior guard Stefan Welsh made his debut this season after Pelphrey lifted an indefinite suspension to give Arkansas more bodies, but the Hogs still dealt with depth issues and managed only nine points off the bench.

Meanwhile, Morgan State dominated the offensive glass. The Bears pulled down 10 more offensive rebounds and out-scored the Razorbacks by a 20-5 margin on second-chance points.

The Razorbacks also struggled, again, defending the three-point line and allowed the Bears to hit 47.4 percent of its attempts and Reggie Holmes hit five treys as part of his game-high 34 points.

Nevermind the 54 fouls called by the officials. The difference was defense and rebounding.

And disappointment was the result for Arkansas.

“For anyone to come in here and play that well and to be able to get a win here at Bud Walton Arena is very frustrating to us,” said Arkansas sophomore Rotnei Clarke. “I know it’s frustrating to the whole state of Arkansas and obviously we’re not very happy with it.”

Clarke finished with a team-high 26 points and hit four treys, including two in a span of 7.6 seconds to pull Arkansas within 95-94 with 6.5 seconds remaining.

His heroics, however, came up short with another three-point attempt as the buzzer ended the game and the Hogs’ 45-game streak of wins against nonconference teams in Bud Walton Arena.

Appalachian State, which forced overtime before falling to Arkansas last week, gave the Hogs a scare and its coach provided words of warning to Razorback Nation.

“Morgan State may be better than us, so you’ve got to get your guys ready for it,” said Appalachian State Coach Buzz Peterson after losing to the Hogs, 81-72.

Perhaps most troublesome should be the big leads the Razorbacks have built only to squander. Arkansas led Appalachian State and Morgan State by 17 and 13 points, respectively, in the first half before allowing big, second-half runs.

But Arkansas doesn’t get a chance to sulk or lick its wounds after the tough loss Tuesday. East Tennessee State, which Peterson also warned could be better than Appalachian State, comes to Bud Walton Arena on Friday.

“With your schedule, you’re going to play some guys that are probably better than you,” Pelphrey said. “You’re going to play some guys that are probably as good as you and you hope to play some people you know you’re going to have a chance to win barring something crazy going on. I don’t know if we’re there yet right now.”

The Buccaneers played Louisville tough in a 13-point loss and fell to Morgan State, 72-61, on the road last week. There are plenty of common connections to be dissected there for Arkansas, which lost by 30 points to Louisville on a neutral site last week.

Either way, the turkey will taste much better for Bozeman and the Bears in Baltimore, Md., on Thursday.

As for Pelphrey and the Hogs this Thanksgiving?

“Basketball can be bad for the holidays, but we've got a lot to be thankful for,” Pelphrey said. “We’re at the University of Arkansas and we've got a good group of guys that work hard. They believe in doing things the right way and I’m looking forward, as a coach, to find a way here to get back in there and work hard and making those guys better so we have a chance to win next time out.”

Brandon Marcello is the online editor of WholeHogSports.com.