FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas got a Tour de Fortson performance in rallying to beat Mississippi State.

Courtney Fortson, the Razorbacks’ sophomore point guard, was all over the court and finished with 35 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals to lead Arkansas to a 67-62 victory over the Bulldogs on Thursday night before an announced crowd of 4,113 at Walton Arena that braved a winter storm rather than watching the game on ESPN2.

Fortson made sure the fans on hand had plenty to cheer about in the second half, when he scored 33 points to match the Bulldogs' team total after they had taken a 29-21 halftime lead.

“That blew my mind,” Fortson said.

“It turned into a Fortson game,” Mississippi State Coach Rick Stansbury said. “That's basically what it was.”

Stansbury said the game turned on Fortson's ability to drive to the basket after he was stymied in the first half.

“We kept him out of the lane in the first half, and we absolutely couldn't keep him out in the second half,” Stansbury said. “He gets in that lane, nothing good happens for the opponents. He scores or gets fouled or creates a play for somebody else.”

Fortson finished 9 of 17 from the field, including 3 of 6 on three-pointers, and hit 14 of 18 free throws. He hit 14 of 16 free throws in the second half.

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“That's a horrible stat,” Stansbury said.

“There were a lot of voices on our sideline saying, 'They can't stop you,' ” Fortson said. “So I basically took what the defense gave me.

“When [the ankle injury] loosened up, I started attacking and finding my teammates.”

Fortson said he was slowed by an ankle injury he sustained in the first half, then felt better in the second half.

Stansbury said he couldn't recall another game in which a player scored as many points in a half as an entire team.

“I'd have to look long and hard to figure out that stat,” Stansbury said. “It's probably not a stat any coach likes to think about, one guy scoring as much as his team.”

Arkansas was 6 of 30 from the field before Fortson — who was 0 of 4 in the first half — hit his first field goal on a three-point attempt with 16:42 left.

“I'm thinking about going out and tackling him if that one doesn't go in,” Razorbacks Coach John Pelphrey said.

Pelphrey joked he also was considering whether he should jump off the top of Walton Arena with his team struggling so much to score.

“But then it just changed,” Pelphrey said. “Courtney put us on his back and willed us to win.”

Mississippi State (15-5, 3-2 SEC) appeared to be in control, leading 49-38 with 10:05 left after Barry Stewart hit two free throws.

Then the Razorbacks (9-11, 2-3) outscored the Bulldogs 27-13 the final 9:55, including 20 points by Fortson.

“If he wasn’t getting fouled and going to the line, he was making a bucket,” Mississippi State senior forward Jarvis Varnado said. “He just killed us in the second half.”

Fortson's free throw gave Arkansas the lead for good, 58-57, with 2:57 left. His driving basket made it 61-57, his rebound basket made it 63-59 and his two free throws pushed the Razorbacks' lead to 65-59 with 30.9 seconds left.

“That's a big time player stepping up for the team,” said Arkansas senior guard Stefan Welsh, who had 12 points off the bench. “I told him to just keep attacking the basket, because they can't stop you. … I told him to stay in attack mode.”

After a blocked shot by Razorbacks freshman forward Marshawn Powell, Mississippi State pulled within 65-62 on Ravern Johnson's three-point basket with 15.4 seconds left.

The Bulldogs then attempted to get a trap in the backcourt, but Arkansas moved the ball well to beat that strategy before Rotnei Clarke finally was fouled by Riley Benock with 1.9 seconds left.

Clarke hit both free throws for the final 67-62 margin.

“Give Arkansas credit,” Stansbury said. “They hung in, stayed around and took advantage of the opportunity they had, and we weren't able to keep scoring.”

Stansbury said the Bulldogs had too many “empty possessions” in the final minutes.

“We didn't handle it very well coming down the stretch,” he said. “I didn't think we played with the poise you've got to play with to win on the road.”

Arkansas broke a three-game losing streak and bounced back from a 101-70 loss at Kentucky last Saturday.

“We were very fortunate to win,” Pelphrey said. “I've got tremendous respect for Mississippi State and how good they've been over the last several years.

“It took something very unique for us to get this done tonight. I'm not sure that I even totally understand it. After I go back and watch it, maybe I'll understand it a little bit more.”

When Mississippi State beat Arkansas 82-80 two weeks ago in Starkville, Miss., Varnado dominated for the Bulldogs with 17 points, 12 rebounds and 10 blocked shots, with several of his rejections on Fortson drives.

In Thursday night's rematch, Varnado had 14 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocked shots, but it was the 5-11 Fortson who dominated.

“They didn't run anything different,” Stansbury said of what Arkansas did in the second half. “Fortson was tougher than we were, that's the bottom line.”

Fortson, not known for his outside shooting, hit 4 of 6 three-pointers in the second half.

“Most of the time you give him those those shots,” Stansbury said. “But he was in his groove and those three-point shots fell, too. When he's got it all going like that, he's pretty tough to defend.”