Turnovers and more haunt Bulldogs in loss to Razorbacks

MSU has now lost four straight SEC games

For weeks, Mississippi State head coach Ben Howland has harped on how his Bulldogs had to commit fewer turnovers. If that point needed any further emphasis, it got it on Tuesday night.

MSU committed a season-high 26 turnovers and the Bulldogs fell 61-45 on the road at Arkansas. The 26 State turnovers led to 25 of the Razorbacks' 61 points.

"We are not going to beat anyone in Division 1 with 26 turnovers," Howland said after the game. 

Eight different Bulldogs had at least two turnovers in the contest. An aggressive Arkansas pressure defense frustrated MSU at every turn.

"It was something that we worked on," Howland said of the Razorbacks' defensive style. "(Arkansas) obviously runs it more often than we do. It was problematic. We had turnovers that were spread all the way throughout the team."

(WATCH HOWLAND'S FULL POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE BY CLICKING HERE. SEE MSU GUARD D.J. STEWART'S POSTGAME MEDIA SESSION WITH THE VIDEO AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE.)

All the turnovers spoiled what was a positive start to the game for the Bulldogs. MSU (10-9, 4-6) was sitting pretty early. The Bulldogs built a 13-point lead midway through the first half. Arkansas (14-5, 6-4) could get nothing at all going offensively with only five points over the game's first 12 minutes.

Eventually though, the Bulldogs' turnovers caught up to them. A 23-2 Arkansas run allowed the Razorbacks to enjoy a 28-22 lead over MSU at the half.

Things got no better for State after the intermission. MSU saw its deficit swell to 16 points not long into the second half. Then, after the Bulldogs battled back to get within five, Arkansas pulled away with another big run, this time a 19-5 one.

While the turnovers were the major factor that spoiled State's night, not much else went right either. The Bulldogs shot only 31 percent as a team for the evening. They made only 10 of 18 free throws. MSU was out-rebounded by 11. Only one State player reached the double-digit mark in scoring. That was forward Tolu Smith who tallied 10 points. It was unquestionably a night the Bulldogs would prefer to simply forget.

"We've got to have short-term memory," MSU guard D.J. Stewart said. "We've got another game coming Saturday so we just can't focus on this game. We've got to go back to the drawing board and learn from our mistakes this game."

There have been lots of go-back-to-the-drawing-board moments for MSU of late. State has now lost four straight Southeastern Conference games after starting the year winning four of its first six league affairs. Despite the struggles recently, the Bulldogs insist they remain confident.

"We have a great group of guys," Stewart said. "We don't get down on ourselves a lot. We're tough. We know we have to keep getting better to be the team we want to be."

"They're battling through," Howland added. 

The Bulldogs hope their perseverance can soon pay off in the win column. MSU will have gone three full weeks without a conference victory when the team returns to action. That game comes on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. central at South Carolina. 

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