Bulldogs defeat Razorbacks with another strong showing
Nearly a week after Mississippi State put together one of its most impressive performances of the year in a win over Alabama, the Bulldogs duplicated the strong showing.
State came out and dominated the first half of action to build one of its biggest leads in an Southeastern Conference game of the year and held off a late try at a rally by Arkansas. The all- important 87- 73 win over the Razorbacks sent the Bulldogs out a winner in the final home game at Humphrey Coliseum this season.
MSU won for the fifth time in the last six games and got to its 20th victory of the season. At 9- 6 in the league, and having been projected inside the NCAA Tournament, the team might have locked in a bid for the first time since 2018- 19.
“Getting to the tournament is a dream of all of ours and that's what we really want,” Bulldog Anastasia Hayes said. “We worked really hard after the ( Missouri) loss and it hurts us. Getting back in the dream and learning the things that we did during those losses has helped us.”
MSU shot a strong 49% from the floor hitting 28- of- 57 and made 10- of- 23 3- pointers while holding Arkansas to 35% from the field and 8- of- 32 from long range. The Razorbacks were 19- of- 31 from the free- throw line while State shot well from the charity stripe hitting 21- of- 39.
The game played out very similarly to the Alabama game last Sunday. The Bulldogs built a big lead in the first half and coasted to the win despite having some lapses late in the game. It was thanks to the offensive flow of the game that MSU was able to grab such a large lead. The Bulldogs got out to a 12- 1 lead and it only got within single digits once in the game.
State hit four 3- pointers in the first quarter alone and held the Razorbacks to just three made shots in a 25- 9 lead. That lead grew in the second with the Bulldogs taking a 49- 28 advantage into the break.
Arkansas made things a little more interesting late in the third quarter and into the fourth getting a 28- point lead down to 11, but the hole was too great.
Even after letting off the gas late, it was another full team effort for MSU. The Bulldogs had a boost with the return of Jessika Carter. State's All- SEC center returned after missing two games with an illness and had a double- double in what could be her final home game. Carter finished with 16 points on 5- of- 8 shooting and 6- of- 11 free throws and had 12 rebounds.
“It felt really great with the love from the fans that I got,” Carter said. “Missing those games, I couldn't wait to get back out there with them.”
Jerkaila Jordan continued her strong play getting 16 points on 5- of- 10 shooting and four assists. Ahlana Smith had 13 points making 3- of- 5 3- pointers and hauling in five rebounds. Kourtney Weber provided a big boost off the bench with 11 points on 4- of- 5.
The Bulldogs won the rebounds 44- 40 in the game and scored 26 points off the bench to Arkansas' six. State also had 18 assists to its 13 turnovers. The Razorbacks got 25 of its points from Samara Spencer and 17 from Makayla Daniels.
There's now one last SEC matchup on the way for the Bulldogs as they travel to No. 5 LSU looking for an upset win over a team that's dropped just one game this year. The Tigers and Bulldogs will tipoff at 5 p.m. on Sunday in Baton Rouge, La., on the SEC Network.
State looks to be in great position of getting into postseason play and into the NCAA Tournament, but the Bulldogs aren't ready to stop now.
“I've talked about it all year, you want to be playing your best basketball come March and I think you're seeing that right now,” MSU coach Sam Purcell said. “You might have some hardships, get into the tournament and make a run that no one will forget.”