Eric Reed Jr. hadn’t made a 3-pointer since Jan. 17 when he lined up from the left wing with less than seven minutes to go between Mississippi State and Arkansas on Saturday at Bud Walton Arena.
Reed had missed his last 16 attempts from deep. Since his last made triple against Tennessee, he’d lost his starting spot and most of his rotation minutes for the Bulldogs.
But he wasn’t missing this one.
Reed’s wide-open shot hit nothing but net, stretching MSU’s lead back out to 10 points with 6:39 to play in Fayetteville.
“Our bench went crazy,” Mississippi State coach Chris Jans said. “They were so ecstatic for him.”
Reed’s triple was a pretty good sign Saturday’s game was going to be different.
Thanks to staid defense, timely plays and contributions from up and down the roster, the Bulldogs (17-8, 5-7 Southeastern Conference) held on for a 70-64 road win over Arkansas (17-8, 6-6 SEC) on Saturday night.
It was Reed hitting big shots. It was freshman Shawn Jones Jr. and backup big man Will McNair Jr. playing key minutes in the first half. It was Cameron Matthews coming up clutch to help MSU hang on despite a furious late rally from the Razorbacks.
All told, it amounted to the Bulldogs’ fifth straight victory, possibly their most impressive win of the season and a major NCAA tournament résumé booster at a crucial time.
“Just proud of my kids,” Jans said. “Proud of them.”
Dashawn Davis led Mississippi State with 17 points. Shakeel Moore had 12, Tolu Smith had 11, and Matthews finished with 10.
The Bulldogs led by as many as 16 points but saw their lead whittled down to as little as three in the final minutes.
Arkansas nearly used the charity stripe to mount a comeback, taking 26 free throws — 18 in the second half — to get back in the game.
After MSU pushed its lead to a game-high 16 for the second time with 13:54 to play, Arkansas rattled off an 11-0 run to make it a five-point game.
Mississippi State’s turnovers had caught up to them, and the Bulldogs’ early offensive success had disappeared.
“The first 10, 15 minutes, we were really running good offense,” Jans said. “I really liked where we were at. Certainly in the second half, it was a little stop-and-start, and we were just trying to survive, it felt like, at the end.”
But after the Hogs cut it to three on a Davonte Davis layup with 1:22 left, Matthews sandwiched a tough putback layup with some clutch free throws.
The junior wing went 4 for 4 at the line down the stretch to help put the game away.
“I’ve just got to be a leader for my team,” Matthews said. “I’ve got to step up there and knock the free throws down.”
MSU also took advantage of several key misses by Arkansas, including a badly missed 3-pointer by freshman Nick Smith Jr. with the Bulldogs’ advantage down to five and 1:54 to play.
The Razorbacks shot just 4 of 18 from beyond the arc. Anthony Black led the Hogs with 23 points, and Ricky Council IV had 13 — including 11 made free throws.
Mississippi State made six 3-pointers for the second straight game, but on a much improved shooting percentage. The Bulldogs were 6 of 10 from deep, including a 4-of-7 showing in the first half alone.
MSU held on to post its third Quadrant 1 victory of the year, a huge addition to its tournament case with three weeks remaining in the regular season.
Mississippi State will host Kentucky (16-9, 7-5 SEC) at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in a crucial game between two bubble teams at Humphrey Coliseum.
The Bulldogs will begin preparation for the Wildcats soon, but for the next 24 hours, they’ll be able to bask in the joy of Saturday’s hard-fought — and much-needed — victory.
“They were rocking and rolling,” Jans said of his players. “We’re going to enjoy this. It’s going to be a fun plane ride home.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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