Second half surge pushes Bulldogs past Arkansas
Bulldogs hit school record 16 three-pointers
Matt Jones
Issue date: 2/9/09 Section: Sports
For a half, Arkansas disguised its youth Saturday afternoon. For another half, it reared its ugly head in a bad way.
The Razorbacks squandered a 15-point halftime lead and Mississippi State hit a school-record 16 three-point attempts in an 86-77 win in Starkville.
"That was a tale of two halves for sure," Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury said. "I'm not sure Arkansas could play any better the first half…And we couldn't shoot any better than we did in the second half."
Arkansas hit 62 percent of its shots in the first half to build a 51-36 halftime lead on the Bulldogs. But the shooting percentage tanked after halftime as the Razorbacks were only able to manage 9-of-31 shots.
On the flip side, Mississippi State hit 9-of-13 shots from 3-point range in the second half en route to breaking the school's record for shots made from beyond the arc for the second consecutive game. The Bulldogs hit 14 in a win at Kentucky Wednesday.
"The same way we were hitting shots in the first half they were hitting them in the second," said Arkansas junior guard Stefan Welsh, who finished with 14 points.
The loss was Arkansas' third straight and dropped the Razorbacks to 1-7 in the Southeastern Conference midway through league play.
The Razorbacks (13-8) never trailed in the first half after a pair of transition baskets by Courtney Fortson and Welsh to open the game gave Arkansas a quick 4-0 lead. The Hogs outscored Mississippi State 14-0 in fast break points in the first half after being outscored 15-0 for the teams' match-up in Fayetteville last month, a 70-56 MSU win.
But just as the Razorbacks were able to score in the open floor in the first half, it wasn't there after the intermission.
"It's hard to break when you're constantly taking the ball out of the net," Arkansas coach John Pelphrey said. "They were simply spectacular shooting the ball in the second half.
"I felt like we struggled to get baskets [after halftime] and they got production from a lot of different places."
The Razorbacks squandered a 15-point halftime lead and Mississippi State hit a school-record 16 three-point attempts in an 86-77 win in Starkville.
"That was a tale of two halves for sure," Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury said. "I'm not sure Arkansas could play any better the first half…And we couldn't shoot any better than we did in the second half."
Arkansas hit 62 percent of its shots in the first half to build a 51-36 halftime lead on the Bulldogs. But the shooting percentage tanked after halftime as the Razorbacks were only able to manage 9-of-31 shots.
On the flip side, Mississippi State hit 9-of-13 shots from 3-point range in the second half en route to breaking the school's record for shots made from beyond the arc for the second consecutive game. The Bulldogs hit 14 in a win at Kentucky Wednesday.
"The same way we were hitting shots in the first half they were hitting them in the second," said Arkansas junior guard Stefan Welsh, who finished with 14 points.
The loss was Arkansas' third straight and dropped the Razorbacks to 1-7 in the Southeastern Conference midway through league play.
The Razorbacks (13-8) never trailed in the first half after a pair of transition baskets by Courtney Fortson and Welsh to open the game gave Arkansas a quick 4-0 lead. The Hogs outscored Mississippi State 14-0 in fast break points in the first half after being outscored 15-0 for the teams' match-up in Fayetteville last month, a 70-56 MSU win.
But just as the Razorbacks were able to score in the open floor in the first half, it wasn't there after the intermission.
"It's hard to break when you're constantly taking the ball out of the net," Arkansas coach John Pelphrey said. "They were simply spectacular shooting the ball in the second half.
"I felt like we struggled to get baskets [after halftime] and they got production from a lot of different places."
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