FINAL: Mississippi State 86, Arkansas 77

Check back later at www.nwaonline.net for full coverage from today’s game.

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Mississippi State 80-75 with 3:37 left

The Bulldogs extended their lead to 74-67 on Riley Benock’s school-record setting 15th 3-pointer for State on Saturday. Barry Stewart added No. 16 just now to put the Bulldogs up 80-75.

Jason Henry has done his best lately to keep Arkansas in the game. He second on consecutive possessions on a board and putback and a 3-pointer.

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Mississippi State leads 69-66 with 7:51 left

Arkansas’ lead is gone. State tied the game at 66 on Brian Johnson’s spinning post move and 6-foot jumper over Michael Washington. The Bulldogs took their first lead on Riley Benock’s 3-point shot over Stefan Welsh at the 8:10 mark.

State is in the midst of its second big run in this half. This 12-1 spurt has erased Arkansas’ 65-57 lead.

The Razorbacks have hit only 6 of their 20 shots after halftime; State has made 11 of 17.

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Arkansas leads 56-52 with 15:04 left

Quickly, it’s a game again.

Mississippi State tore off a 13-2 run to open up the second half, closing to 53-49 on Dee Bost’s 3-pointer. The Bulldogs nailed 6 of their first 8 shots after halftime, while Arkansas missed 6 of its first 7.

Stefan Welsh hit a 3 to stop the run, but Bost answered right back with another trey.

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HALFTIME: Arkansas 51, Mississippi State 36

Wow. All I can say right now.

Arkansas simply dominated that first half. The Hogs equaled their SEC-high in points for a half. In the process, they shot 62.1 percent from the field (18 of 29) and nailed 8 of their 12 shots from 3-point range.

Freshman point guard Courtney Fortson is having a heck of a day so far. He is 6-of-7 from the field, 2-of-2 from 3, with 15 points and 5 assists. Mike Washington has 11 points, and Rotnei Clarke has 9 points, all on 3s.

State hasn’t been terrible, at least after its 3-for-14 start from the field. Phil Turner has 16 points to lead the Bulldogs. Dee Bost has added 13. Him and Fortson are having quite the duel, well, in addition to the duel Fortson’s having with the State student section.

Arkansas, which has 14 fast break points, held its biggest lead at 32-17.

Can the Hogs hold on for their first SEC road win? Stay tuned …

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Arkansas leads 35-24 with 6:19 left

The lead got to as high as 32-17 just now and still stands at 11 points even after State ripped off seven straight points.

Fortson just hit his second 3 of the game to put UA up 35-24. He has 11 points, on 4-of-5 shooting, and also has four assists. Another key stat: The Razorbacks have 12 fast break points thus far today.

The Hogs are 13 of 21 from the field and 5 of 8 from the 3-point line.

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Arkansas leads 25-17 with 10:24 left

Stefan Welsh’s 3-point pull-up swish, off a Courtney Fortson pass, gave Arkansas its biggest lead at 20-9. Rick Stansbury called for a timeout at that time, and his Bulldogs have looked better ever since, especially Dee Bost.

Bost has State’s last eight points on a 12-foot pull-up and two 3s, but the Razorbacks are thriving on the offensive end. After MSU cut it to 20-17, Michael Washington scored on a drive and a nifty 5-foot hook in the lane and Rotnei Clarke nailed a contested 3.

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Arkansas leads 10-5 with 15:54 left

So, the Razorbacks got just the start they needed here in Starkville.

Steals by Jason Henry and Courtney Fortson on MSU’s first two possessions turned into fast-break layups by Fortson and Stefan Welsh for a 4-0 lead. Fortson just put Arkansas up 10-5 with a tough layup and the foul against his counterpart, Dee Bost.

The Hogs are 5 of 7 from the field. Fortson has four points. Phil Turner has all five of State’s.

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Pregame

The sounds of pings — from aluminum bats at Mississippi State’s baseball practice — greeted me to Humphrey Coliseum an hour ago. Seriously, it’s a beautiful, beautiful day here in Starkville — baseball weather, really — much like it is around this state, as well as Arkansas, I’m sure.

Definitely not typical weather for a February basketball contest.

So, both teams are shooting around here inside The Hump, gearing up for their rematch game after State’s 70-56 victory over the Hogs on Jan. 10 in Fayetteville.

An interesting change of note here in Starkville: State’s also gone to those expensive courtside seats. In fact, the seats are just like those at Arkansas, but with an MSU emblem on them instead obviously.

Starting lineups are as expected:

Arkansas — Courtney Fortson, Rotnei Clarke, Stefan Welsh, Jason Henry, Michael Washington.

Mississippi State — Dee Bost, Barry Stewart, Ravern Johnson, Phil Turner, Jarvis Varnado.

Tip-off’s in 10 minutes between Arkansas (13-7, 1-6) and Mississippi State (15-7, 1-6) …