When Mississippi State added graduate transfer forward Erynn Barnum from Arkansas last spring, it gave the Bulldogs two scoring threats in the post who were both named to the all-Southeastern Conference second team in 2022-23.
But through the Bulldogs’ first two SEC games, Barnum and Jessika Carter have been neutralized, a big reason why MSU (13-4, 0-2) is still looking for its first conference win heading into Thursday night’s matchup, a homecoming for Barnum in Fayetteville against Arkansas.
“The biggest thing you can do is play as hard as you can,” Bulldogs head coach Sam Purcell said. “One thing this program is about is rolling up our sleeves and getting to work, and that’s what we plan on doing today in film. We’re excited about the opportunity to go on the road.”
Carter was held to a season-low six points — all in the first quarter — in MSU’s SEC opener last Thursday against Vanderbilt, then finished with eight points in Sunday’s loss at No. 1 South Carolina. Barnum, who averaged nearly 12 points in her last seven non-conference games, has not made a field goal so far in SEC play, with a total of three points and six rebounds in 37 minutes against the Commodores and Gamecocks.
The Bulldogs have also struggled from 3-point range, finishing 3-for-19 from deep against South Carolina. Jerkaila Jordan has put up 21 and 25 points, respectively, in her first two conference games, but most of her production has come in the lane as she has hit just two of 13 attempts from beyond the arc. Debreasha Powe, MSU’s best 3-point shooter, has likewise hit a funk, going 2-for-11 from distance over her last two games.
“Our biggest thing is just confidence,” Powe said. “We’re still shooters. Constantly coming in the gym and shooting, that’s what we do. (We need to) believe in ourselves, believe in each other in practice, and if we’ve got that wide-open look, knock it down. Just constantly encouraging each other to be better and staying confident in what we do.”
The biggest key for the Bulldogs is not to let it affect their defense when shots aren’t falling, and Purcell said he is looking for improvement on that end of the floor first and foremost.
“For us to get back to championship behavior, we have to get defensive stops,” Purcell said. “We can shoot, and I know we were talking about some missed shots, but when we lose, it’s because we’re not stopping the ball. We’re terrible in ball-screen coverage, and it takes some losses to understand and change behavior.”
Scouting Arkansas
The Razorbacks (13-4, 1-1) are coming off perhaps their best performance of the season: a 40-point beatdown of Georgia on Sunday in which four players finished with at least 15 points. Arkansas also has an impressive road win over then-No. 15 Florida State in the ACC/SEC Challenge, but did pick up a bad loss to Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Dec. 10.
Freshman Taliah Scott, a five-star recruit and a former Florida Gatorade Player of the Year, leads the SEC in scoring by a significant margin with 22.3 points per game, but the Razorbacks routed Georgia even as Scott missed her first game of the season. Three other starters — Samara Spencer, Makayla Daniels and Saylor Poffenberger — also average double figures, with Poffenberger topping the SEC leaderboard in rebounding at 13.1 per game.
Despite all those offensive weapons, Arkansas is last in the conference in field goal percentage and assists, and allows the most rebounds per game in the SEC even with Poffenberger’s presence. The Razorbacks do take care of the basketball, turning it over 13.2 times per game, and they lead the SEC in 3-point attempts, taking nearly 30 per contest.
“When you look at their season statistics, they’re capable of a 30-piece in a quarter. They shoot it so fast,” Purcell said. “If we want to have a chance to win this game, it has to start on the defensive end or else they’re going to make us look really bad.”
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