Arkansas faces tough test at Mississippi State
FAYETTEVILLE — It's been 73 seasons since Mississippi State's basketball team beat up SEC opponents in backto-back games the way the Bulldogs did Missouri and Florida in Humphrey Coliseum last week.
First Mississippi State pounded Missouri 72-45. Then the Bulldogs were even more dominant against Georgia in a 91-59 victory.
Mississippi State (11-6, 2-3) hadn't won consecutive SEC games by 25 or more points since the 1946-47 season with victories over Florida 55-24 and Auburn 61-35.
The Bulldogs' 32-point victory over Georgia was their most-lopsided in an SEC game since they beat the University of Arkansas by same margin, 78-46, in Humphrey Coliseum on Feb. 9, 2016.
Arkansas (14-3, 3-2) will be back at Mississippi State to take on the Bulldogs at 6 p.m. Wednesday night.
“It's a big-time challenge, because Mississippi State is playing with a great deal of confidence,” Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman said. “They're extremely well-coached. They're tough.
“Their strength is our weakness.”
The Bulldogs ranked 13th nationally and lead the SEC with a plus-8.2 rebounding margin while the Razorbacks are 329th nationally and last in the SEC at minus-5.1.
“That's back-to-back phenomenal games,” Mississippi State coach
Ben Howland said after the Georgia game. “You can see how together our guys are right now.”
Howland said what's especially exciting is that he believes the Bulldogs are capable of continuing to improve.
“You can just see our guys and their belief in one another. The biggest thing – all good teams play for each other,” Howland said. “These guys are really embodying that, they're playing for one another.
“That is what's so exciting for me as we're seeing this team grow right now. It's really, really fun.”
Joe Kleine, the former Arkansas All-American center who played 15 seasons in the NBA, worked the Mississippi StateGeorgia game as television analyst for the SEC Network last Saturday after doing the same on Dec. 22 when New Mexico State beat the Bulldogs 58-52.
“Mississippi State looked 100 percent better,” Kleine said of the difference in the New Mexico State and Georgia games four weeks apart. “It was night and day.
“[The Bulldogs] had great energy against Georgia. They played through [Reggie] Perry. [Tyson] Carter made shots, and [Nick] Weatherspoon did a masterful job of running the team.”
Perry, a 6-10, 250-pound sophomore forward, had 22 points, 12 rebounds and six assists without a turnover against Georgia.
“Georgia couldn't handle Perry,” Kleine said. “He got a lot of attention in the post when they got him the ball, and he didn't force anything and did good job getting the ball to his teammates for open looks.”
Carter, a 6-4 senior guard, had 18 points against Georgia; 6-7 sophomore Robert Woodard had 17 points and seven rebounds; and Weatherspoon, a 6-2 junior, had 12 points, eight assists and two steals.
“Weatherspoon played really under control and patient,” Kleine said. “He was almost flawless.”
Weatherspoon returned against New Mexico State after serving a 20-game suspension for an undisclosed violation of team rules. He missed the final 10 games last season — starting with the Bulldogs' 77-67 victory at Arkansas — and the first 10 games this season.
“I think when you look at Mississippi State's record, throw it out, because Weatherspoon wasn't there for a lot of the season,” Musselman said.
Weatherspoon had eight points and three turnovers without an assist in 18 minutes against New Mexico State.
“He hadn't played in 20 games before New Mexico State and you could tell he was very anxious,” Kleine said. “I talked to coach Howland before the Georgia game and the thing he was trying to get Nick to do was not be going 1,000 miles an hour all the time, to get under control and be patient and take what the defense gives you.
“That's what Nick did against Georgia. I mean, he did a great job.”
In SEC games, Weatherspoon is averaging 15.0 points and 4.2 assists. He has 12 assists and five turnovers the previous two games.
“That's going to be good for us moving forward,” Howland said after the Georgia game. “I think that Nick is really growing right before our eyes in terms of now being a full-time point guard for the first time in his college career.
“He's doing a great job and he's really working hard at it. He watches all the film, really studies it.”