STARKVILLE – Mississippi State men’s basketball suffered its second straight defeat to go under .500 on the season on Saturday. The Bulldogs, now 11-12 overall and 3-8 in SEC play, lost 88-68 against No. 21 Arkansas at Humphrey Coliseum.
The Bulldogs started off hot, with Josh Hubbard and Achor Achor hitting a pair of shots each in the opening minutes, but after the first media timeout, the Razorbacks switched on. They got everything they wanted offensively, going on a 19-2 run over a stretch of six minutes to build a double-digit lead.
Arkansas was up 29-13 by the midpoint of the first half, taking advantage of a lengthy cold spell by MSU and getting buckets everywhere in the lineup.
The Bulldogs went on a run to close the gap to single digits late in the half, but missed on several opportunities to record points off of turnovers. The Razorbacks kept the distance intact, and added a three-pointer at the buzzer from Acuff to take a 43-30 advantage into the halftime interval.
The poor defense continued after the restart. Despite the effort of Hubbard and some paint points from Quincy Ballard, the Razorbacks were comfortable going against a seemingly helpless Bulldog defense.
Hubbard wasn’t as hot shooting down the stretch as he was in the first half, and his record of 69 consecutive games with a three-pointer was in danger of ending entering the final minutes of the game, and it was sealed when he was subbed in the final minute. He ended the game with a team-high 16 points, followed closely by Achor on 15.
MSU is back at home for its next game against No. 25 Tennessee on Wednesday at 8 p.m.
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