Second-half surge seals win in conference opener
Bulldogs roll past Razorbacks
Bart Pohlman
Issue date: 1/12/09 Section: Sports
It didn't take long for a close game to turn into a nightmare.
Mississippi State used a strong second half performance to run past Arkansas 70-56 Saturday night at Bud Walton Arena.
The loss snapped a 10-game winning streak for the Razorbacks (12-2, 0-1 Southeastern Conference), who hadn't lost since a Nov. 22 game at Missouri State.
"We just didn't play well enough," Arkansas head coach John Pelphrey said. "You have to give Mississippi State credit. We got outplayed."
After trailing by two at halftime, Arkansas jumped out to a 41-37 lead to start the second half.
The lead was short-lived, however, as Bulldog guard Dee Bost ignited a 13-0 Mississippi State run, giving the Bulldogs (11-5, 1-0 SEC) a 50-41 lead with 13:16 remaining in the game. Bost scored eight of his 13 second-half points during the run.
The Razorbacks tried to respond, pulling within six points with 10:32 to play, but the Bulldogs were too hot from the field for the cold-shooting Hogs to get back into the game.
The Mississippi State run shocked junior guard Stefan Welsh, who said the Bulldogs hit shot after shot.
"I didn't even realize they were on a 13-0 run," Welsh said. "We did a good job of [not letting them shoot] until late in the shot clock, but they hit a lot of clutch 3-pointers. They did a great job of chasing down long rebounds after taking up the whole shot clock. But I wasn't aware that they went on a run that long. That's just basketball. It goes like that on any given night."
Freshman guard Rotnei Clarke said the Bulldogs' hot shooting touch played a big part in both the run and the game.
"They just made a good run," Clarke said. "They came in and had a lot of fire in them. It wasn't because we weren't ready to play. We came ready to play. We came prepared. Our coaching staff prepared us. They just had a better night shooting the ball. They just did things better than us. There's gonna be nights sometimes when you can't hit shots like you're supposed to, and that's how it was tonight."
Mississippi State used a strong second half performance to run past Arkansas 70-56 Saturday night at Bud Walton Arena.
The loss snapped a 10-game winning streak for the Razorbacks (12-2, 0-1 Southeastern Conference), who hadn't lost since a Nov. 22 game at Missouri State.
"We just didn't play well enough," Arkansas head coach John Pelphrey said. "You have to give Mississippi State credit. We got outplayed."
After trailing by two at halftime, Arkansas jumped out to a 41-37 lead to start the second half.
The lead was short-lived, however, as Bulldog guard Dee Bost ignited a 13-0 Mississippi State run, giving the Bulldogs (11-5, 1-0 SEC) a 50-41 lead with 13:16 remaining in the game. Bost scored eight of his 13 second-half points during the run.
The Razorbacks tried to respond, pulling within six points with 10:32 to play, but the Bulldogs were too hot from the field for the cold-shooting Hogs to get back into the game.
The Mississippi State run shocked junior guard Stefan Welsh, who said the Bulldogs hit shot after shot.
"I didn't even realize they were on a 13-0 run," Welsh said. "We did a good job of [not letting them shoot] until late in the shot clock, but they hit a lot of clutch 3-pointers. They did a great job of chasing down long rebounds after taking up the whole shot clock. But I wasn't aware that they went on a run that long. That's just basketball. It goes like that on any given night."
Freshman guard Rotnei Clarke said the Bulldogs' hot shooting touch played a big part in both the run and the game.
"They just made a good run," Clarke said. "They came in and had a lot of fire in them. It wasn't because we weren't ready to play. We came ready to play. We came prepared. Our coaching staff prepared us. They just had a better night shooting the ball. They just did things better than us. There's gonna be nights sometimes when you can't hit shots like you're supposed to, and that's how it was tonight."
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