First up for unranked Razorbacks: No. 10 Mississippi State

Mississippi State head coach Vic Schaefer yells at the officials during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against West Virginia, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2019, in Starkville, Miss. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)

The Arkansas Razorbacks fell out of the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time this season after losing at Florida on Sunday.

Arkansas coach Mike Neighbors said they ran into a highly motivated Gators team, which was trying to better its seeding for the upcoming Southeastern Conference tournament. But the Razorbacks were coming off a win over Tennessee earlier in the week. It was their ninth Southeastern Conference victory, which has only happened twice in the team’s history.

The Gators got off to a 10-0 start, and Arkansas never led.

“When we got to nine wins everybody around’s patting them on the back,” Neighbors said. “You’re in the NCAA tournament. I’m saying it to y’all. They’re reading it in the papers. They’re reading it on social media. And because we’re self-aware, the start of that game didn’t mean as much to us as it did Florida. And it was very obvious.

“Now after we got smacked in the face, and we were down 19-5, it kinda got important and we played good. There’s way more positives in that game than negatives except that start that you mentioned. We did get off to a bad start. I take responsibility for that.”

He did acknowledge talking to the team about what could have been. The Razorbacks could have been playing for second place in the SEC tonight in Starkville with a win on Sunday. But Neighbors pointed out the loss was not catastrophic.

“In all retrospect, we go down one spot in the RPI (36), we move up a seed line in all the projected (NCAA Tournament brackets),” Neighbors said. “So it’s not end-all, be-all.

Mississippi State slipped a spot in this week’s AP poll after Sunday’s upset loss to Alabama 66-64. … Vic Schafer, who served as an assistant and later associate head coach at Arkansas from 1997-2003 is a perfect 9-0 against the Razorbacks while at Mississippi State. … The Razorbacks have dropped nine straight games to the Lady Bulldogs. The last time Arkansas defeated the Mississippi State was Feb. 19, 2012, when the Razorbacks won 67-53 in Fayetteville.

ARKANSAS at 10 MISSISSIPPI STATE

WHEN Thursday, 8 p.m.

WHERE Humphrey Coliseum (10,575), Starkville, Miss.

RECORDS Mississippi State 23-5, 11-3 SEC; Arkansas 21-6, 9-5 SEC

SERIES Mississippi State leads 21-18

RADIO KQSM-FM 92.1 and KYNG-AM 15-90 in Fayetteville; KFPW-AM 1230 and KHGG-AM 1580 in Fort Smith; KURM-AM 790 and KURM-FM 100.3 in Rogers

TV SEC Network

PROBABLE ARKANSAS STARTING LINEUP

POS NAME, HT., YR.;PPG;RPG

G Chelsea Dungee, 5-11, Jr.; 17.8; 5.0

G Amber Ramirez, 5-9, Jr.; 15.1; 3.4

G Makayla Daniels, 5-8, Fr.; 9.2; 1.7

G Alexis Tolefree, 5-8, Sr.; 15.8; 4.3

F Taylah Thomas, 6-1, Jr.; 6.1; 6.8

COACH Mike Neighbors (56-39) is in his third season at Arkansas.

PROBABLE MISSISSIPPI STATE STARTING LINEUP

POS NAME, HT., YR.;PPG;RPG

G Jordan Danberry, 5-8, Sr.; 12.1; 3.7

G Myah Taylor, 5-7, R-So.; 5.9; 1.4

F Rickea Jackson, 6-2, Fr.; 15.0; 4.8

F Chloe Bibby, 6-1, Jr.; 8.0; 5.4

F/C Jessika Carter, 6-5, So.; 13.8; 9.0

COACH Vic Schaefer (217-61) in his eighth season at Mississippi State.

TEAM COMPARISON

Mississippi State - Arkansas

79.3 Points Scored Per Game 84.8

59.8 Points Allowed Per Game 65.8

40.3 Rebounds Per Game 38.7

16.0 Turnovers Per Game 11.3

47.1 FG Pct. 45.0

32.1 3-Pt. FG Pct. 38.7

67.7 FT Pct. 75.5