Hogs pull back welcome mat

BOB HOLT
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- Mississippi State was good enough to win at Arizona this season, but at Arkansas?
That's a different story, and it always has an unhappy ending for the Bulldogs.
Walton Arena came down on Mississippi State again Saturday, when the Razorbacks rallied to win 83-72 before 19,112 fans.
Mississippi State dropped to 0-10 at Arkansas since the Razorbacks joined the SEC -- that's 0-2 at Barnhill Arena and 0-8 at Walton Arena -- and is the only Western Division team not to win at Fayetteville in that span and one of two conference teams that are winless at Fayetteville, along with Georgia.
Arkansas is the lone SEC road site where Mississippi State hasn't won since the conference expanded to 12 teams for the 1991-92 season, and the Bulldogs have lost on their 10 visits to Fayetteville by an average of 20.1 points.
"I promise you we're not giving it to them on purpose," Mississippi State Coach Rick Stansbury said. "We're trying to win games up here.
"Either give Arkansas a lot of credit, or don't give us much credit for not being able to win."
Give the Razorbacks (13-7, 4-4) credit Saturday for tightening up their defense in the second half and getting the ball to junior guard Jannero Pargo, who scored a season-high 28 points and hit 9 of 17 shots, including 6 of 12 three-pointers.
Pargo is averaging 17.5 points and shooting 44.8 percent from three-point range in SEC games.
"I don't know where our team would be without him," Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson said. "But I'd probably be in the nuthouse."
Pargo scored eight points in the first half as Mississippi State (11-8, 2-6) took a 41-37 lead by hitting 15 baskets that were either dunks, layups or shots in the lane.
The Bulldogs then opened the second half with a layup by junior guard Marckell Patterson and tip-in by junior forward Robert Jackson to push their lead to 45-37 with 19:01 left.
"I felt like we were starting to pull away. ... I thought we had a real good chance to come out of here with a win," said senior forward Tang Hamilton, who led Mississippi State with 22 points. "But then we just didn't get enough stops, and if you don't get enough stops in this place, it's going to get loud and they're going to feed off that and win the game."
Arkansas outscored Mississippi State 16-4 over 3:19, including two three-point baskets by Pargo and two three-point plays by junior guard T.J. Cleveland, to move ahead 53-49 with 15:55 left.
"From that point on, we didn't play with the same composure," Stansbury said. "We lost our composure and this building got going and gave their team energy. That's what this place does."
The Razorbacks led the rest of the game, pulling away behind Pargo's shooting, strong inside play from sophomore forward Carl Baker and junior forward Dionisio Gomez and solid games from Cleveland and sophomore guard Joe Johnson.
Arkansas also got more aggressive on defense in the second half, when the Bulldogs' shooting percentage dropped from 54.5 percent to 41.7 and they committed 14 of their 22 turnovers.
"In the first half they were getting way too many easy shots, shooting layups on us, dunking," said Baker, who had 9 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. "We were struggling on offense and they were just coming down and scoring easy."
Richardson challenged the players during his halftime talk.
"He was like, 'Where is your pride? How can you let them come in and do this in your house?' " Baker said. "We were mad and embarrassed and we knew we had to clean things up.
"In the second half, we stopped playing soft. We got more aggressive, and with every shot we made, it seemed like our defense got a little better, too."
Cleveland and Johnson scored 12 points each for the Razorbacks and Gomez had his best all-around game of the season with 10 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in 24 minutes.
"I guess Gomez was a surprise, considering he hadn't been playing that much," Stansbury said. "But you never know who's going to come through and play well for Arkansas."
Richardson decided to put Baker and Gomez, both 6-8, in the starting lineup -- replacing junior guards Teddy Gipson and Brandon Dean -- with 6-9 sophomore Larry Satchell, 6-8 Johnson and 6-2 Pargo to give Arkansas extra size against the burly Bulldogs.
Richardson said going with three forwards instead of the four perimeter players the Razorbacks had been starting also ensured more shots for Pargo, who scored 20 points in the second half of Wednesday night's 84-73 loss at Ole Miss but didn't get the ball enough times down the stretch.
"When Larry, Carl and Dionisio are in the game, Pargo gets a lot more shots," Richardson said. "But if you put Teddy and Dean in there, you've got three guys looking for shots, and in this situation, since Pargo is the most consistent, I'd rather him take every shot if it was possible.
"I think Larry, Carl and Dionisio would, too, because they'll pick for Pargo and get him open."
Arkansas was outrebounded by Mississippi State 37-22, but the Razorbacks limited their turnovers to 15, hit 22 of 27 free throws compared to 12 of 20 by the Bulldogs and shot 52 percent from the field.
"You're constantly fixing this basketball team," said Richardson, who Saturday used his 14th different starting lineup in 20 games. "You keep trying to reach for the right combinations.
"Sometimes they're real good, and sometimes they're not so good. But today that lineup worked."
Which is not unusual when Mississippi State comes to Fayetteville.

This article was published on Sunday, February 4, 2001

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