The presumption was that Arkansas was a lock to be in the top-25 this week, after upsets of Oklahoma and Texas in the past couple weeks. That took a hit as the Razorbacks got stunned in the second half by Mississippi State in a 70-56 loss. Arkansas only trailed by two at the half, but let the Bulldogs shoot over 50% in the second half. The loss snapped a seventeen game home winning streak dating back to last year.Most will see that the Razorbacks shot 3-for-22 on threes, and 23-for-64 overall as the main reason for the loss. Not so much. Arkansas was 1-for-11 in the first half on threes, and only trailed by two points. There's no question that Arkansas shot poorly. Their star freshman guard Courtney Fortson went only 2-for-13 and point guard Stefan Walsh was 4-for-16. Two of the top scorers for the Hogs were lousy. In the second half, Arkansas had two stretches of four and five minutes of going without a score.
The problem was that their frustration on offense led to a lot of breakdowns on defense in the second half. The Bulldogs did not have a significantly better field goal percentage in the first half (40% versus 39%), except on the perimeter. In the second half, Arkansas even came out and took a four-point lead with sixteen minutes remaining.
Then Arkansas went cold and Mississippi State started getting more open looks. Mississippi State scored fifteen points on the fast break, as Arkansas just did not get back on defense. Hanging their heads and slow to respond after another miss. It only made it easier for the Bulldogs to score. The Razorbacks became more desperate and less composed on offense.
It is not uncommon for a young team like Arkansas to slack on defense as their frustration on offense mounted. Now the Razorbacks not only have to bounce back from a loss like this, they have to go out on the road for their next two games. Their first road games since late-November.
