Though they had lost their last game here to the least of the East, the best in the West was no match for the Razorbacks Wednesday night at Walton Arena.

Nationally 25 th-ranked SEC West unbeaten Mississippi State (" the hottest team in our league and one of the hottest teams in the country, " Arkansas coach John Pelphrey said ) got gunned down, 78-58 by Arkansas before a roaring 17, 927 in the same place where previously SEC East winless South Carolina had upset the Razorbacks.

" We played horrible those games, " Arkansas senior forward Sonny Weems said of the Razorback losses to South Carolina and at SEC East bottom-feeder Georgia. " But we're a whole different team now ! We've got confidence !"

And now the Razorbacks stand 15-5, 4-2 going into Saturday's 2 p.m. SEC game with Florida here while the Bulldogs fall to 14-6, 5-1 and next play SEC East leader Tennessee.

Gunned down might fit the Wild West showdown motif, especially with Razorbacks Patrick Beverley (19 points ) and Weems (22 points ) combining for 41 while Arkansas sank nine 3-pointers to Mississippi State's six.

But it's really not accurate on a night when Arkansas only shot 36 percent from the field to Mississippi State's 40 percent.

It was about defense, and forcing 22 Mississippi State turnovers while committing just 12, and outrebounding the Bulldogs, 41-35. The Hogs also slashed inside to put MSU shot-blocker Jarvis Varnado in foul trouble and get to the free throw line 30 times and sink 25.

But something transcended even all of that.

" Tonight we played as a team, " Pelphrey said. " We had'IT !'"

To Pelphrey, the IT came with sophomore Michael Washington and especially seldom-used fifth-year reserve forward Vincent Hunter coming through for a combined 11 points and 7 rebounds in the absence of disciplinary-sus- pended starting power forward Charles Thomas.

" Vincent Hunter is something special, " Pelphrey said. " Nobody cares more about being a Razorback than he does. "

Weems said, " Without Mike and Vincent, we don't win this game. "

It was all too much for his Bulldogs, Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury said.

" Give Arkansas credit, " Stansbury said. " We weren't at our best and Arkansas had a lot to do with it. When Beverley and Weems score the ball like that, they are tough to match up with. And you go on the road with 22 turnovers, you are not going to win many nights. "

Two quick fouls on Varnado plus a 14-0 Razorback run did much to equal a 43-28 Arkansas lead at intermission.

Varnado, the nation's leading shot-blocker, sat the half's final 13: 50 after getting his second foul.

Arkansas, especially Beverley, kept slashing inside with Varnado out, resulting in the Bulldogs frequent fouling.

Beverley inside drew Varnado's first foul at the game's outset.

" We knew, we go at him they'll have to use players they don't normally play, " Beverley said.

Weems said, " That was the game plan, go right at their bigs where they get in foul trouble and can't alter our shots. "

Varnado did block four shots playing the entire second but by then it was too little, too late.

" He's a great shotblocker, " Washington said. " But we tried to get him and [MSU for ward ] Charles Rhodes out of the game because he's a great shotblocker, too. But this game was defense. "

The Hogs were 13 of 16 on the first-half line to MSU's 7 of 9.

Even with Varnado benched, the Bulldogs led 11-7 at 12: 12 mostly behind some dazzling baskets by 6-4, 230-pound point guard Jamont Gordon.

Gordon led all scorers with 24 points, but MSU's great point guard committed six turnovers versus just one assist.

" We had way too many turnovers, " Gordon said. " They outtoughed us tonight. "

It was a Beverley steal off Gordon for a bucket in the press, the second basket of the 14-0 run, that galvanized the crowd. The crowd then went into a frenzy on three straight Sonny Weems treys, the last trey with a foul for a 4-pointer and a 21-11 lead at 10: 05.

Pelphrey simultaneously employed centers Steven Hill and Darian Townes much of the final 5: 20 of the second half. However, Hunter, the fifth-year senior from Little Rock Fair in his most important stint of the season, returned to make some key rebounds and an assist before picking up his third foul.

Beverley's old fashioned 3-point play on a drive with 24. 9 seconds left capped the 43-28 halftime lead.

Beverley's 14 first-half points and Weems' 10-point flurry on treys paced Arkansas' offense.

An 8-0 Bulldog run dangerously deflated the cushion at the second half's outset.

Hitting nothing since his 10-point tear in the first half and frankly firing blanks to put the Bulldogs in range in the second stanza, Weems broke the MSU run following his miss with a bucket at 15: 39 then nailing a trey followed by two Townes free throws, to have Arkansas up comfortably again, 50-38.

" When Weems knocked down that three from the corner, the emotion of the building got us, " Stansbury said.

An unexpected Hunter deep trey in the second half had the frenzied crowd absolutely knowing their Razorbacks this night were the top gun in the West.

" He hit that from Little Rock, " Pelphrey said of the senior from J. A. Fair.

Stansbury wasn't surprised.

" Hunter is a great shooter, " Stansbury said. " I've seen it. He and Washington played big tonight. "