SEC BASKETBALL MISSISSIPPI STATE 78, ARKANSAS 46

Flat Tuesday: UA has no shot (22.2%) in loss to Mississippi State

Mississippi State forward Gavin Ware (20) tries to pass the ball past Arkansas forward Trey Thompson (1) in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Starkville, Miss., Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Arkansas didn't suffer another agonizing loss away from home Tuesday night.

Instead, Mississippi State kicked the Razorbacks all the way back to Fayetteville. The Bulldogs did not look like the SEC's 13th-place team in pounding the Razorbacks 78-46 at Humphrey Coliseum.

Mississippi State's 32-point victory was its largest margin against Arkansas since the 1951-52 season, when the Bulldogs beat the Razorbacks 79-39 in Starkville.

Arkansas fell to 1-10 in games away from Walton Arena this season, including 1-7 on the road. Seven of the Razorbacks' losses away from Fayetteville had been decided by four or fewer points.

"It's one of those performances we'd like to forget," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. "We didn't bring the energy that we've been playing with.

"I'll take the blame on that. Maybe I didn't get them prepared with the understanding of what was going to take place here."

Mississippi State (10-13, 3-8) broke its five-game losing streak to the Razorbacks (12-12, 5-6) and gained a split in the regular-season series after Arkansas beat the Bulldogs 82-68 at Walton Arena on Jan. 9.

"That was obviously our best game of the year," Mississippi State Coach Ben Howland said. "I was really impressed with our effort defensively.

"I thought we did a great job attacking their press. We were looking to score in transition and be really aggressive."

Senior forward Gavin Ware led Mississippi State with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman guard Quinndary Weatherspoon scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and senior guard Craig Sword added 10 points.

I.J. Ready, the Bulldogs junior point guard from Little Rock Parkview, came off the bench after missing Saturday's game at LSU because of back spasms and had six points and six assists.

Arkansas guards Dusty Hannahs and Anthlon Bell and center Moses Kingsley -- who came into the game averaging a combined 49.9 points -- were held to 18. They combined to hit 6 of 32 shots.

Bell was 3 of 15 from the field and scored nine points. Hannahs shot 2 of 11 with five points, and Kingsley shot 1 of 6 with four points.

It was the first time this season Kingsley failed to score at least 10 points.

Freshman Jimmy Whitt led the Razorbacks with 11 points on 3-for-12 shooting.

The Razorbacks' previous most-lopsided loss this season had been 92-69 at Texas A&M to open SEC play.

The Razorbacks shot a season-low 22.2 percent (16 of 72) from the field. Their previous low was 34.8 percent in a 69-66 loss to Stanford in New York.

Arkansas' previous shooting low in an SEC game had been 39.3 percent in a 76-73 overtime loss at Georgia.

The Razorbacks, who hit 14 of 26 three-pointers in their first game against the Bulldogs, were 1 of 10 Tuesday.

"It just seemed like there was a lid on the basket for us," Anderson said. "I'm going to have to check and see.

"We just couldn't buy anything. When you shoot 22 percent, you're not going to be in great shape, I'm telling you that. The odds of you winning a game like that are really not even slim and none."

Mississippi State improved to 7-4 at home, including 2-3 in SEC play. The Bulldogs' other SEC home victory was against Ole Miss.

"Let's give Mississippi State a lot of credit," Anderson said. "Ben had those guys prepared."

Arkansas' only victory away from Walton Arena this season was at last-place Missouri, 94-61, on Jan. 12.

The Bulldogs shot 52.9 percent (27 of 51) from the field.

"We just didn't come ready to play tonight," Whitt said. "We didn't get back on defense. We didn't get any stops, and when you're not hitting shots or getting stops, it's tough.

"We've just got to get back in the gym and work and focus on defense in practice. That's really what it comes down to after a game like this.

"You're not always going to hit shots. You've got to rely on your defense sometimes, and we didn't really have that tonight."

Mississippi State scored the first four points of the second half -- all on Ware's free throws -- to take a 46-20 lead with 18:33 left.

The Bulldogs' largest lead was 35 points, 77-42, with 2:52 remaining on two free throws by Fred Thomas.

Ready hit a jump shot with two seconds left in first half to give Mississippi State a 42-20 lead.

The Razorbacks shot 7 of 31 from the field (22.6 percent) and hit 2 of their final 17 attempts. Mississippi State hit 18 of 30 from the field (60 percent) for the half.

The Bulldogs took a 7-3 lead on Travis Daniels' breakaway dunk.

Arkansas went ahead 10-9 on Hannahs' layup with 14:16 left in the half, its last lead of the game.

Mississippi State then outscored the Razorbacks 11-0 over a 2:57 span, capped by Malik Newman's layup at the 11:16 mark of the half, to take a 20-10 lead.

Arkansas went 3:35 without scoring before Kingsley's layup made it 20-12 with 10:41 left in the half.

The Bulldogs responded with another 11-0 run, including a jump shot and dunk by Sword, to push their lead to 31-12.

Arkansas went 5:19 without scoring before Whitt scored on a 10-foot jumper to make it 33-14 with 5:22 left in the half.

Weatherspoon's three-point basket put Mississippi State ahead 36-14.

Anton Beard scored on a layup and hit two free throws to cut Arkansas' deficit to 36-18 with 2:49 left in the half.

Sports on 02/10/2016