Video: Mississippi State Men’s Basketball Falls At Arkansas

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (MSU Athletics) — When Mississippi State and Arkansas hit the stretch run of a Southeastern Conference men’s basketball game Saturday, one team was going to have a strong finish.

Unfortunately for Mississippi State, that finish belonged to Arkansas.

A game-ending 17-7 run sealed the deal as Arkansas knocked off MSU 82-68 in the Bud Walton Arena.

With the win, Arkansas improved to 8-7 overall and 2-1 in league play, while MSU fell to 7-7 and 0-2.

Craig Sword led the Bulldogs with 21 points, while Gavin Ware was also in double figures with 14 points.

Ware scored in double figures for the 14th time this season, while Sword led the team in scoring for the first time a Dec. 16 loss at Florida State.

Arkansas used an early 12-2 run to build an 18-9 lead. The Bulldogs were back within five at 18-14 on a layup by Sword.

Arkansas built the lead to 23-16 before a 9-1 run brought MSU all the way back and into a 25-24 lead after the first two of six straight points by Sword.

A 3-pointer by MSU’s Quinndary Weatherspoon tied the game 32. The Razorbacks scored the final four points of the half for a 36-32 lead.

In the second half, the Razorbacks scored the first five points for a 41-32 lead.

MSU would fall down 14 at 50-36 less than four minutes into the game’s final half. Still, the Maroon and White kept battling.

MSU closed within six at 53-47 after two free throws by Ware with 10:37 left.

A layup by Sword brought the team within 62-59 with 5:28 left. The game stood at 65-61 and 68-63 when the hosts scored 12 straight to put the contest away.

For the contest, the Bulldogs hit 24 of 64 shots from the field (37.5 percent), 7 of 22 shots from 3-point range (31.8 percent) and 13 of 20 shots from the foul line (65.0 percent). The Razorbacks hit 28 of 56 shots from the field (50.0 percent), 16 of 24 shots from 3-point range (66.7 percent) and 10 of 13 shots from the foul line (76.9 percent).

Arkansas held a 37-34 rebounding advantage. The Bulldogs had 13 assists and 14 turnovers, while the Razorbacks had 23 assists and 16 turnovers.

Arkansas received 26 points from Dusty Hannahs, 25 points from Anthlon Bell, 13 points from Moses Kingley and 10 points from Jabril Durham.

MSU will face No. 9 Kentucky Tuesday in Lexington, Ky. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. CT with the game being shown natonally by ESPN.