Struggling Hogs head to Mississippi State
Men's Basketball
Matt Jones
Issue date: 2/6/09 Section: Sports
Saturday marks the midway point for a Southeastern Conference season to forget for Arkansas.
The Razorbacks will look to find the remedy to what ails them - a win - at surging Mississippi State.
"I think we'll be excited to go on the road and try to get an SEC road win - something we haven't done yet and something we need to do," Arkansas coach John Pelphrey said. "Mississippi State is playing well right now. They are having a very good conference season, and they are in the thick of the race in the west."
The Razorbacks (13-7, 1-6 SEC) fell to the Bulldogs 70-56 in their first meeting Jan. 10 in Bud Walton Arena. That was the first in a series of disappointing losses for Arkansas, which entered the conference season with a 12-1 record.
The Razorbacks might have suffered their most disappointing loss of all Wednesday night at home, a 74-72 decision to Tennessee in which Arkansas led in the final two minutes.
"The difference between winning and losing was free throws," Arkansas guard Stefan Welsh said. "If we hit free throws we win that game. The difference between winning and losing all our games is real small right now."
Arkansas was just 9-of-17 from the charity stripe in the loss and gave up three consecutive second-chance baskets to the Vols in the closing minutes. Bobby Maze's jumper with 5.4 seconds gave Tennessee the lead for good.
Closing games on the road has rarely been a problem for the Razorbacks this season as Arkansas hasn't had much of a chance in the final minutes. In three road losses at Ole Miss, Florida and LSU, the Hogs have trailed by 23, 20 and 20, respectively, in the second half.
Pelphrey said a lot of Arkansas' trouble to start quickly has been an inability to make shots, but added, "We need to keep a high energy and high effort level whether the ball is going in the basket or not.
"When you get shots it just opens things up."
The Bulldogs (15-7, 5-2) are coming off arguably their biggest win of the season, a 66-57 win at Kentucky Wednesday night. In that game, Mississippi State hit 14-of-27 attempts from 3-point range.
The Razorbacks will look to find the remedy to what ails them - a win - at surging Mississippi State.
"I think we'll be excited to go on the road and try to get an SEC road win - something we haven't done yet and something we need to do," Arkansas coach John Pelphrey said. "Mississippi State is playing well right now. They are having a very good conference season, and they are in the thick of the race in the west."
The Razorbacks (13-7, 1-6 SEC) fell to the Bulldogs 70-56 in their first meeting Jan. 10 in Bud Walton Arena. That was the first in a series of disappointing losses for Arkansas, which entered the conference season with a 12-1 record.
The Razorbacks might have suffered their most disappointing loss of all Wednesday night at home, a 74-72 decision to Tennessee in which Arkansas led in the final two minutes.
"The difference between winning and losing was free throws," Arkansas guard Stefan Welsh said. "If we hit free throws we win that game. The difference between winning and losing all our games is real small right now."
Arkansas was just 9-of-17 from the charity stripe in the loss and gave up three consecutive second-chance baskets to the Vols in the closing minutes. Bobby Maze's jumper with 5.4 seconds gave Tennessee the lead for good.
Closing games on the road has rarely been a problem for the Razorbacks this season as Arkansas hasn't had much of a chance in the final minutes. In three road losses at Ole Miss, Florida and LSU, the Hogs have trailed by 23, 20 and 20, respectively, in the second half.
Pelphrey said a lot of Arkansas' trouble to start quickly has been an inability to make shots, but added, "We need to keep a high energy and high effort level whether the ball is going in the basket or not.
"When you get shots it just opens things up."
The Bulldogs (15-7, 5-2) are coming off arguably their biggest win of the season, a 66-57 win at Kentucky Wednesday night. In that game, Mississippi State hit 14-of-27 attempts from 3-point range.
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