FAYETTEVILLE -- Mississippi State Coach Ben Howland removed his coat shortly after the Bulldogs tipped off against Arkansas on Tuesday night at Walton Arena.
"I don't know what you guys thought, but it's really warm in that building," Howland said in his postgame meeting with reporters. "That's the hottest building we've been in, I'm telling you.
"There was like a 15-degree difference in our locker room and out there on the floor, which was astounding."
More astounding than the temperature in Walton Arena was the outcome.
Mississippi State led for the final 13:11 to beat Arkansas 84-78.
Now it's Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson and the Razorbacks who are sweating.
Arkansas (12-4, 1-3 SEC) has lost is first two SEC home games for only the third time in 26 seasons since joining the conference. The other two times the Razorbacks started 0-2 in SEC home games they finished 6-10 in 2002 and 2-14 in 2009.
"We didn't think we were going to be in this situation," center Moses Kingsley said. "But we've just got to come out and try to win on Saturday."
Arkansas, which opened conference play with an 81-72 loss to Florida in Walton Arena, has never lost its first three SEC home games.
It seems unlikely to happen Saturday when Missouri (5-10, 0-3) visits, but at this point the Razorbacks can't afford to take any game for granted if they want to challenge for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid.
"I've got tremendous concern, but at the same time, it's one game," Anderson said of losing to Mississippi State. "It's just four games into conference play. We can turn it around, and we will."
The Razorbacks returned to practice Wednesday.
"We'll be meeting and discussing what's wrong, watching film," Arkansas senior guard Dusty Hannahs said. "We've got to get this right."
The Razorbacks finished 16-16 last season.
"None of us are trying to do anything close to last year," Hannahs said. "We all know what we want to do, and we need to come together as a team and make it happen.
"We've got 14 conference games left, and we've got to make the best out of every single one of those."
Arkansas came into Tuesday night's game No. 26 in the NCAA's Rating Percentage Index -- which ranks teams based on their records and strength of schedule -- because the Razorbacks' three losses were at home against No. 3 Florida, and at No. 7 Minnesota and No. 8 Kentucky.
Losing to Mississippi State (11-4, 2-1) was a different matter.
Arkansas fell to No. 39 in the RPI and may fall further even if it beats Missouri, considering the Tigers are No. 275.
The Bulldogs were No. 178 in the RPI before beating the Razorbacks because of home losses to Leigh 87-73 and East Tennessee State 67-65, and to Central Florida 86-61 in Charleston, S.C.
Mississippi State's RPI ranking jumped 58 spots to No. 120 with its victory at Arkansas.
Howland said Mississippi State sophomore guard Quinndary Weatherspoon -- who scored 25 points against Arkansas -- missed the Lehigh game because of a hand injury. He also said East Tennessee State (11-3) and Central Florida (10-4) are better than perceived.
"They're really good," he said. "That's just poor scheduling."
Freshmen or sophomores combined to score 76 points for the Bulldogs against the Razorbacks -- senior guard I.J. Ready from Little Rock Parkview had Mississippi State's other eight points -- and Howland said he can see his team maturing after its early struggles.
The Bulldogs, who beat LSU 95-78 in Baton Rouge on Saturday, have won back-to-back SEC road games for the first time since 2011.
Six freshmen played for the Bulldogs at Arkansas, with Lamar Peters (14 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists), Mario Kegler (7 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds) and Schnider Herard (4 points, 4 rebounds) starting.
"These guys are starting to grow up experience-wise, and they're no longer playing like freshmen," Howland said. "They're getting it, and it's really exciting for everybody on our team."
Arkansas has nine players who are juniors or seniors, but four of them -- junior guards Jaylen Barford and Daryl Macon, and junior forwards Dustin Thomas and Arlando Cook -- are newcomers.
"We have so many new parts, and that's what we're seeing, and when adversity takes place you find out a little bit more about yourself," Anderson said. "We'll find out more about our basketball team on Saturday and going forward.
"We've got to right the ship and get back in the gym and get back on the same page about what we want to do defensively."
Perimeter defense and rebounding were Arkansas' biggest issues against Mississippi State. The Bulldogs hit 12 of 26 three-pointers, outrebounded the Razorbacks 41-29 and hit 22 of 32 free throws.
"We've got to get it together," Kingsley said. "We need to get it together.
"It's not like we have to go bring in another player. It's just something among us that we can fix, and we're going to get it right. We're going to get it right starting with the next game."
Up next
ARKANSAS MEN VS. MISSOURI
WHEN 5 p.m. Saturday WHERE Walton Arena, Fayetteville RECORDS Arkansas 12-4, 1-3 SEC; Missouri 5-10, 0-3 SERIES Arkansas leads 24-21 RADIO Razorback Sports Network TV SEC Network
Sports on 01/12/2017