STARKVILLE, Miss. — Mississippi State forward Charles Rhodes warned things would be different at Humphrey Coliseum after his Bulldogs’ 20-point loss to Arkansas on Jan. 30 at Bud Walton Arena.

And the 6-8 senior was as good as his word, particularly in the first half.

Rhodes hit 8 of his first 9 shots from the field and scored 19 firsthalf points and 24 for the game to lead the Bulldogs to a 80-74 victory over the Razorbacks on Saturday at Starkville, Miss.

Arkansas erased a 13-point halftime deficit to push the Bulldogs to the wall, but MSU put the game away at the free-throw line front of a crowd of 10, 096.

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“ It was a great basketball game, like we knew it would be, ” said MSU head coach Rick Stansbury. “ We got a lead, but we knew that they wouldn’t go without a fight. Give them credit, but also give our guys’ credit for doing what they had to do to win. ”

Gary Ervin led the Hogs with 15 points, while Sonny Weems scored 14 and Patrick Beverley added 11. For the Bulldogs, Barry Stewart added 19 and Jamont Gordon scored 10.

The victory gives Mississippi State (17-7, 8-2 ) at two-game lead over the Razorbacks (17-7, 6-4 ) in the Western Division with six games left in Southeastern Conference round-robin play.

It was the Hogs’ second loss in a row. Tennessee thumped Arkansas last Wednesday, 93-71, at Thompson-Boling Arena.

The Hogs’ remaining schedule is LSU at home on Wednesday, at Kentucky on Saturday, at Alabama on Feb. 27, Vanderbilt at Walton Arena on March 1, at Ole Miss March 4 and Auburn at home on March 8.

The Bulldogs’ remaining schedule is at South Carolina on Wednesday, Auburn at home on Saturday, at Florida on March 1, at Vanderbilt on March 5 and LSU at home on March 8.

The Razorbacks would need the Bulldogs to lose at least three of their final six regular-season games, while winning out themselves to catch MSU in the divisional race.

“ I would like to trade with them, ” Arkansas head coach John Pelphrey said when asked about the league race. “ All we can control know is how we prepare for LSU. That’s it. Every game is tough this time of year and you can’t take any team for granted. ”

The Razorbacks trailed 47-34 at half, but fought their way back in the game with a 19-2 run, capped by a Patrick Beverley 3-pointer with 13: 54 to play to give the Hogs a 53-51 lead.

“ The first half went just the way we wanted it to, ” Rhodes said. “ But you knew it wasn’t going to stay that way. ”

Arkansas’ defense is what got it back in the game. The Hogs held the Bulldogs to just two baskets in the first 7: 46 of the second half with Darian Townes, Charles Thomas, Vincent Hunter and Steven Hill alternating against the MSU athletic front line of Rhodes and Jarvis Varnado.

Ervin, who transferred from MSU to Arkansas after the 2005 season, did a better job of controlling Stewart — who burned Arkansas for a dozen in the first ha — in the second half, limiting him to 7 second-half points.

“ They played tough, smart basketball, ” Gordon said. “ They got back in the game, but we came back at them and we were going to do whatever we could to win this game. ”

From the 12: 28 mark, the lead see-sawed back and forth. With 7: 10 remaining, Townes scored inside for the Hogs, but it would be their last points for the next 3: 39 as the Bulldogs forged ahead, 73-68.

Weems broke the drought with a basket to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 73-70 with 3: 31 to play. Arkansas got a stop, but Hunter and Weems each missed 3-pointers.

Ervin hit 1 of 2 free throws and then scored on a drive with 1: 33 to trim MSU’s lead to 76-73, but at that point, MSU began to salt the game away at the free-throw line. MSU hit 9 of 12 free throws in the final 3: 57, with the Hogs collected on only 3 of 7 in the final 9: 42 of the game.

“ I liked the way we played in the second half, ” Pelphrey said. “ I thought we really competed. We had a great attitude and we made some things happen. It was good. But we have to extend that. Play that way for 40 minutes. Every night. ”

The Bulldogs hit 26 of 54 shots for 48. 1 percent from the field, while the Hogs were 29 of 63 for 46. 6 percent. MSU enjoyed a 22-11 rebounding advantage in the first half, but Arkansas’ second-half effort evened up the battle in the paint 38-33.

The stats were fairly even throughout the hard-fought contest with MSU having 14 turnovers, 6 blocks and 7 steals, while the Razorbacks had 14 turnovers, 7 blocks and 8 steals.