Mason Jones was the only star on the court for the Hogs on Saturday night with 30 points (tying his career high), two assists, two rebounds and just one turnover but his efforts couldn't carry the team that once again struggled to maintain a solid, consistent offensive presence. The Mississippi State Bulldogs took over in the second half on the road in Bud Walton and took the crucial win the Hogs needed 77-67, they were favored to win by 2.8 points.

The Razorbacks got off to a hot start shooting from deep, with four threes from Jones, one from Isaiah Joe and one from Keshawn Embery-Simpson but they forced shots and were off the mark to start the second half going 0-5. The Hogs were shooting 58 percent in the first half and finished at 42 percent by the end of the night.

The starters, Jones, Adrio Bailey, Daniel Gafford, Jalen Harris and Joe got the Razorbacks to an early 11-6 lead before Mike Anderson started sending in the subs, leading to just three points in the middle of the first half.

The refs were allowing the players to be aggressive, Hogs just barely getting to the bonus in the first half. The Razorbacks defense did a nice job to close out the first half with a 38-32 lead and holding the Bulldogs to zero field goals in the final 3:56 but they couldn't keep it up in the second.

Foul trouble for an already-struggling Gafford caused another brutal scoring drought, during which the Bulldogs went on a 13-1 run to take the lead and run away with it. The Hogs' largest lead was by eight in the first half but Mississippi State flipped the script, at one point leading by 16 in the second half. They managed to pull back within 10 but it just wasn't enough even with all five starters on the court with 3:30 to play.

Turnovers were plentiful with 10 in the first half and 10 in the second half. Mississippi State finished with 27 points off of turnovers and 11 steals. Both teams entered double bonus with 6:45 left on the clock and shot well from the charity stripe and in the end it was the multitude of turnovers by the Hogs that made the difference.

The Bulldogs killed the Hogs in the paint, despite a minor rebounding advantage, scoring a whopping 36 points inside compared to the Hogs' 22. Gafford's weak presence, or often absence, inside was clearly a huge advantage for MSU. The big man finished with 8 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assists and 3 turnovers. Having a particularly bad night was Gabe Osabuohien who had no points but managed to get three fouls and three turnovers in just eight minutes.

Mississippi State played with just seven athletes, four of them scoring in double-digits.

With the Razorbacks' shots at the NCAA tournament dwindling with every loss, they'll have two winnable games against Auburn on the road and A&M at home this week before going to Kentucky on the 26th.

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