ArkansasRazorbacks.com: Winning streak ends with loss in SEC Opener
The Arkansas men’s basketball team (12-2) opened its 2009 Southeastern Conference schedule Saturday evening with a 70-56 loss to Mississippi State (11-5). The defeat snaps the Razorbacks’ 10-game winning streak and is the first home loss of the season.
Also:
- ArkansasRazorbacks.com: Game Stats (PDF), Post-game Quotes, Hogs fall in SEC opener (Video)
- ESPN.com: Mississippi St. 70, Arkansas 56
- Chris Bahn: Arkansas Struggles, Drops SEC Opener To Mississippi State
- Jim Harris: Mississippi State Figures Out Fortson, Slows Hogs in Big Upset
Razorback Central
- Ryan Malashock: Razorbacks ‘Outplayed’ By Mississippi State
- Robbie Neiswanger: Bost Bests Fortson In MSU Win
- Alex Abrams: Hogs Ice Cold From Beyond 3-Point Arc
- Harry King: Arkansas Begins SEC On Wrong Foot
Other Sites and Blogs
- The Clarion-Ledger: Dogs’ Bost gets best of Hogs’ star, fuels upset, Team draws high praise from Stansbury
- Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal: Road victory sees Bulldogs remain poised
Updated 1/11/09 10:30 a.m.
Thought Washington handled his man well, otherwise we didn't compete well.
What drove me crazy was the soft double on Washington's man and he didn't need any help. But it sure left a lot of open threes for the guards when he kicked it back out.
Guard play was just not very good tonight. That is where we lost the game.
They certainly looked their age tonight.
I don't know what Pelphrey was telling them during timeouts, but for his sake, I hope they just weren't listening. Because we did a horrible job of moving around and creating shots.
Oh well, 15 more to go.
I thought Miss. St. played defense very well on our guards last night. At the same time, I wasn't very impressed with the defense we showed against them.
I will say this though; Miss. St. did not take good 3 pt.shots overall last night.
I'd be very suprised if they hit that many 3s in a ball game the rest of the year.
I hope that didn't sound like sour grapes or anything, but that was redicules.
One of the things that drive me crazy the most, is Washinton's undying love for the 3 pt. line. He's good for at least one every single game.
In his 4 previous games, before last night, he had one in every game, only to come up short. I assume that just because he happened to hit one last night, he just had to try another one late in the game.
That is NOT his game, and I wish Pel would make a point out of it.
Did anyone else notice when Varnardo went to the bench after a foul, was when Washington decided on shooting his 3?
I couldn't even get excited when it went in. That was absolutely the dumbest thing I seen all night!
Other than that, I guess you could just say it wasn't the Hogs night.
Clarke hit a few nice shots, but Welsh and Fortson couldn't hit the braud side of a barn last night. It just wasn't in the cards.
I think at one point, they were 0-12 from 3 point range.
If each of those kids hit a couple a piece, Washinton stays inside, where he belongs, and Miss. St. isn't hitting 3s like they won't the rest of the year, this is a completely different ball game.
I hope this won't hurt their confidence on the road at Ole Miss. Ole Miss played Florida tough last night in Gainsville, so hopefully they'll get refocused before then. The Rebel will be looking forward to this one.
GO HOGS!!!!!
Ouch! Crashing back to earth is painful. At least it is not lethal, or is it?
DANG!
Although i hated to lose at home, this is a good wake up call for us. A nice coming back to earth moment. Fortson, Welsh, Clarke will light it up again for us and there will be games when they are off. (can't be on fire every game) Never the less, I still see us going 9 – 7 in conference play or better this year. I can't wait for the rematch in Starkville. GO HOGS GO!!!!!
I would have expected someone to point out Pelphrey not putting more pressure on the ball with traps and pressing. Our press is one of the best, and is a momentum changer – I don't see why he would do that unless our guys were just too tired. We played with no intensity other than Washington and Monk. Sanchez needs to show up more – but that will come with experience.
Gonzo, cut Washington some slack. He is carrying our team right now, and if he wants to shoot a 3 every now and then that's fine with me. It's not like he's shooting them with pressure on him; he's wide open when he jacks it up. If I were Pelphrey and my big man is grinding it underneath against some of the nations toughest big men and having All-SEC performances, I'd let him jack one up every now and then – especially if he's capable of making them; it's not like it's Steven Hill out there putting it up.
As far as the dumbest thing I saw in the game, it was Pelphrey not putting Welsh on Bost when he got hot. All of those 3s totally killed us.
soupd,
Well coached disapline makes room for exceptions? (I seriously doubt that coach Pelphrey looks at it that way)
None the less, your still entitled to your own opinion.
Gonzo, you evidentially haven't been a coach or a player. Establishing discipline also requires providing rewards for the kids (like shooting a 3 pointer) – at the coaches discretion. Otherwise, the kids aren't frequently motivated to abide to the discipline.
Put it this way…if you're playing fetch with a dog and never throw the ball, ultimately the dog will walk away..
I haven't seen any reports on Pelphrey getting down on Washington for shooting 3s, nor have I seen Pelphrey yelling at Washington or taking him out of the game for letting one rip – but I have seen him yell at players or take them out of the game for doing something wrong; that tells me he doesn't have an issue with it.
As you said, you're entitled to your opinion….
My opinion has nothing to do with my playing or coaching exsperiences.
What you have exsperienced, compared to what I have, is a totally different conversation. Let's keep it that way, if you don't mind.