Arkansas In The SEC Part 8 - Mississippi State

Arkansas will begin its’ 30^th season in the SEC this fall. It is hard to believe that is has been that long. At Arkansas Fight, we are starting a series looking back at Arkansas basketball since entering the SEC. Each week, we will take a look at each SEC team and their history with Arkansas. We’ll dive in to the biggest games and outstanding performances. Next up is Mississippi State.

Arkansas All-Time Record versus Mississippi State: 33-31

Arkansas All-Time SEC Record versus Mississippi State: 28-27

Home: 21-8 Away: 7-22 Neutral: 5-1

Biggest And Best Games Of The Series

March 6, 1999 – SEC Tournament Semifinal

Mississippi St. 79 @ #22 Arkansas 84 OT

The Hogs made a nice run in the SEC Tournament in 1999. It ended with a loss to Kentucky in the championship game, but the semifinal game was awesome. Derek Hood and Pat Bradley led the way with 44 combined points as Arkansas made 10 threes. The Hogs led by 5 at halftime, but MSU came back in the 2^nd half to force OT. Arkansas would pull away in overtime and move on to Sunday.

March 1, 2003

#20 Mississippi St. 51 @ Arkansas 53

Stan Heath’s first season as the Arkansas Head Coach was one of the worst in school history, but he did pick up a signature win over Rick Stansbury and the ranked Bulldogs. In this low scoring affair, Arkansas held MSU to 38.6 shooting from the field and to just 6 free throw attempts. MSU led by 8 at half, but Arkansas stormed back to win by 2 in BWA. This game is a great example that it doesn’t matter how bad an Arkansas team may be; Bud Walton Arena has some magic.

February 27, 2002 – Nolan’s Final Game

Arkansas 83 @ Mississippi St. 89

A sad day in Arkansas history. This was the very start of an ugly time for the program. This was the final game coached by Nolan Richardson. We all know what happened after he was fired. Arkansas was outrebounded by 25 and MSU attempted 45 free throws. Jannero Pargo scored 35 to keep the Hogs in it, but it was too much to overcome. Mississippi State wins by 6.

March 10, 2007 – SEC Tournament Semifinal

Mississippi St. 72 vs. Arkansas 81

This was another great run to the SEC Championship, but the Hogs lost to the eventual National Champion Florida Gators. Charles Thomas had 18 points and 18 rebounds to lead the Hogs. Arkansas led by as many as 16 in the 2^nd half to cruise on to Sunday.

February 20, 1993

Mississippi St. 58 @ #13 Arkansas 115

I couldn’t leave out this one. A 57 point win over an SEC opponent? Unbelievable. Arkansas shot 62.1% from the field and made 9 of 16 from three. The Hogs held MSU without a made 3 pointer and just 35.2% shooting. Arkansas had 7 players with 8 or more points. I don’t think we will ever see a dominating in conference play like this ever again

Outstanding Performances

Derek Hood – March 6, 1999

We dove into this game earlier, but not the dominating performance by Derek Hood. He had 17 points, 17 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, and 4 steals. Hood did all of this while shooting 7 of 13 from the field.

Dusty Hannahs & Jabril Durham – January 6, 2016

Dusty Buckets dropped 26 points while making 8 three pointers. Durham flirted with a triple double by recording 10 points, 12 assists, 6 steals, and 4 rebounds. The Hogs won in blowout fashion, 82-68.

Todd Day – February 29, 1992

Todd Day was very efficient against the Bulldogs this game. He shot 9 of 12 with 27 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists. Arkansas won 84-76.