FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas is a handful of plays away from entering today's home game against No. 13 Mississippi State on a five-game winning streak.
Instead, the Razorbacks are trying to snap a two-game skid after losing overtime games at Auburn (71-60) a week ago and at home to Florida (71-66) on Thursday. Arkansas needed a big 3-pointer from junior guard Kelsey Brooks to send the Auburn game into OT, but led late in the Florida game before giving up a basket with one second left that sent the game to OT.
No. 13 Mississippi State at Arkansas
WHEN 2 p.m.
WHERE Bud Walton Arena
RECORDS MSU 18-4, 5-3; Arkansas 9-12, 4-4
SERIES Arkansas leads 18-15
RADIO KABZ-FM 103.7 in Little Rock; KQSM-FM 92.1 in Fayetteville; KFPW-AM 1230 and KFPW-FM 94.5 in Fort Smith; KURM-AM 790 and KURM-FM 100.3 in Rogers.
ONLINE Statbroadcast.com (live scoring)
TELEVISION SEC Network +
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
ARKANSAS
POS^NAME^HT.^YR.^PPG^RPG
G^Kelsey Brooks^5-9^Jr.^7.0^2.2
G^Devin Cosper^5-10^So.^8.8^3.6
F^Melissa Wolff^6-0^Sr.^6.1^7.6
F^Jessica Jackson^6-3^Jr.^17.3^6.8
C^Alecia Cooley^6-3^Jr.^7.3^5.5
COACH Jimmy Dykes (27-26 in second season at Arkansas)
MSU
POS^NAME^HT.^YR.^PPG^RPG
G^Victoria Vivians^6-1^So.^17.5^5.6
G^Morgan William^5-5^So.^9.3^2.0
G^Dominique Dillingham^5-9^Jr.^7.5^3.7
F^Ketara Chapel^6-1^Jr.^6.4^3.5
C^Chinwe Okorie^6-5^Jr.^7.7^6.3
COACH Vic Schaefer (80-42 in fourth season at MSU)
TEAM COMPARISON
Arkansas^MSU
61.3^Points Scored Per Game^75.1
61.6^Points Allowed Per Game^53.3
41.3^Rebounds Per Game^42.8
16.1^Turnovers Per Game^14.0
.367^FG pct.^.405
.263^3-pt FG pct.^.301
.679^FT pct.^.733
CHALK TALK Ketara Chapel hit 7 of 8 shots and scored a team-high 19 for Mississippi State in its 80-55 win in the teams’ first meeting, one of four starters in double figures. Dominique Dillingham hit three 3-pointers and had 16, Victoria Vivians also hit three 3-pointers and scored 13 and Chinwe Okorie scored 12 and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds. … Jessica Jackson scored a game-high 20 for Arkansas, while freshman Jordan Danberry dropped in 12 off the bench, helping to account for Arkansas’ 26-18 advantage in bench scoring.
— Jimmy Carter
But Mississippi State (18-4, 5-3) isn't an opponent that allows the Razorbacks any time to dwell on what could have been, evidenced by the Bulldogs' convincing 80-55 win in the teams' first meeting.
The Bulldogs play stingy defense and are outscoring opponents by an average of nearly 22 points per game, led by standout sophomore guard Victoria Vivians, one of the SEC's best players.
In the first meeting, Vivians scored 13 and was one of four Bulldogs in double figures as Mississippi State built a 10-point halftime lead and pulled away after intermission, thanks in large part to scoring 28 points off 23 Arkansas turnovers.
The game will mark Arkansas' eighth meeting with a ranked foe this year, including its sixth in its last nine SEC games. The Razorbacks lost their first three games to ranked opponents by an average of 26.7 points, but have since scored victories over No. 10 Texas A&M, No. 13 Tennessee and No. 24 Missouri, along with the Mississippi State loss.
Today will give the Razorbacks a chance to show resilience and bounce back from the two tough losses, another opportunity to show the growth they've displayed in recent weeks.
Sports on 01/31/2016