Mississippi State Wins at Arkansas as Turnovers Draw Sam Purcell’s Ire

Mississippi State walked out of Bud Walton Arena with a road win it needed.

But if you listened to Sam Purcell afterward, you’d think the Bulldogs had left something far more important behind: their grip on the basketball.

Yes, Mississippi State beat Arkansas 75-66.

Yes, it was their second straight SEC win, a wire‑to‑wire performance where they never trailed and opened the game on a 13–0 burst.

But every positive came with an asterisk, and that asterisk was the same number Purcell kept repeating like he couldn’t believe it actually happened.

Twenty‑two turnovers.

It didn’t matter that the Bulldogs hit a season‑high 14 threes at a blistering 43.8 percent.

It didn’t matter that nine players scored, or that four of them — Trayanna Crisp, Awa Fane, Madison Francis, and Jaylah Lampley — knocked down at least three triples apiece. Purcell wasn’t in the mood to celebrate shooting nights.

“As a head coach, I am embarrassed. Twenty‑two turnovers,” he said during the post-game radio interview. “We’ve been working on it. I’m really upset.”

The win was real. So was the frustration.

Lampley, who earned the start over Destiney McPhaul, gave Purcell exactly what he wanted offensively: 16 points, three threes, nine rebounds, and the kind of energy that justified the lineup change. McPhaul even rewarded him off the bench. But even that came with the same caveat Purcell kept circling back to.

“We were looking to improve our flow,” he said. “Twenty‑two turnovers aren’t going to get it done. I’m embarrassed. It looks like we don’t even work on it.”

And that was the theme of the night. Not the threes, not the balanced scoring, not the fact that Arkansas never led. It was the turnovers. The Bulldogs gave the Razorbacks 22 extra chances and still managed to win, which says something about Mississippi State’s talent and Arkansas’ struggles. But Purcell wasn’t interested in moral victories or statistical quirks. He was interested in March, and he made that clear.

“We are trying to get to March and play our best basketball, so that can’t happen,” he said. “We’ll run for every one of those turnovers in practice.”

Even the bright spots couldn’t escape the shadow of that number.

Favour Nwaedozi picked up her 12th double‑double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Francis matched her with 13 points of her own, stuffing the stat sheet like she always does.

But Arkansas nearly doubled its made field goals from the first half to the second, and the Razorbacks hung around longer than they should have. Purcell didn’t hide why.

“We score enough points to win games in this league,” he said. “Anytime we hold an opponent to 60-70 points, I love it. But have I mentioned 22 turnovers?”

He had. Several times.

Mississippi State won a game it needed to win. But Purcell made sure the message was unmistakable: if the Bulldogs want to win the games that matter most, they can’t keep handing the ball away like this.

They’ll get another chance to prove it Thursday when Florida comes to Humphrey Coliseum.

And you can bet the first number Purcell checks won’t be the final score.

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