BasketBlog: Mississippi State
— FINAL — HOGS 67, MSU 62
10:09 p.m. — Rotnei seals it sinking both of ’emfrom the line with 1.9 to play, Hogs win it here at Bud Walton 67-62.
10:07 p.m. — MSU gets the quick 3 they needed and call timeout, UA ahead 65-62 with 15.4 left on the clock.
10:05 p.m. — Hogs putting the ‘Dogs in a position they don’t want to be in, Razorbacks out in front by 6 and the crowd’s lovin’ it, 65-59 with 20.9 to play.
10:03 p.m. — Courtney keeps pouring it on the Bulldogs torching the net for his 33rd point, Hogs up 4 and Bud Walton’s rockin’, 63-59.
10:01 p.m. — Fortson gets it to go, however the Hogs give up a quick 2 at the other end, UA up 61-59 with 1:25 left in regulation.
9:59 p.m. — Stewart takes a seat as he tags Marshawn on his way to the rack, 33’s able to hit one of ’em at the line, Hogs ahead 2, 59-57.
9:57 p.m. — Guess who? Fortson nails another one from the line to give the Hogs their first lead in a long while at 58-57.
9:55 p.m. — Marshawn lays it in to knot it back up at 57 as Fayetteville continues to go crazy.
9:53 p.m. — Johnson slams it again, MSU back in front by 2, 57-55.
9:52 p.m. — Stef goes coast to coast to tie it at 55 all as everyone hits their feet in Bud Walton.
9:50 p.m. — COURTNEY FOR THREE! UA down 2, 53-55, with 5:01 to play.
9:49 p.m. — Marshawn sends Bost to the stripe where he sinks ’em both to give the Bulldogs the 55-50 advantage.
9:48 p.m. — Bost hits the jumper to put MSU back on top by 3, 53-50.
9:47 p.m. — Hog calls resound here in Fayetteville as Courtney makes it a 1 point game, Bulldogs in front 51-50.
9:46 p.m. — Stef drains his 3rd 3 of the game to blow the lid off Bud Walton andmake it 51-48 MSU.
9:45 p.m. — Courtney drains the long 2 off of a nasty crossover, Hogs cut it to 6.
9:42 p.m. — Coming into the 3rd media timeout of the 2nd, Fortson’s able to hit another shot to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 8 with 7:45 to play.
9:41 p.m. — Johnson hacks Augustus on his way up and he makes the Hogs pay by sinking both of ’em, MSU up 51-41.
9:39 p.m. — With the Razorbacks now in the bonus, Fortson gets sent to the line with a 1-and-1 opportunity which he makes the most of, UA down 41-49.
9:37 p.m. — MSU sends Fortson to the line where he again is only able to hit 1 of his 2 shots, Bulldogs still holding the Hogs off by 10, 49-39.
9:35 p.m. — Courtney gets fouled again and is able to knock one of ’em down, UA trails 38-47.
9:34 p.m. — Bryant sends Varnado to the line where he hits 1 of 2 to make it a 10 point lead again for the Bulldogs.
9:33 p.m. — Benock drops off the 3 to extend MSU’s lead to 9 at 46-37.
9:32 p.m. — Coming out of the media timeout, Fortson’s only able to get the shooter’s roll on one of his foul shots, Hogs down 6, 37-43.
9:28 p.m. — Bud Walton doesn’t agree with the refs on the foul call on Bryant, and MSU’s able to get 2 going back the other way, State’s up 43-36.
9:27 p.m. — Hogs and ‘Dogs swap off 2 quick buckets, MSU up 41-36.
9:26 p.m. — Courtney again able to get to the line and down ’em both, Hogs down 34-39.
9:25 p.m. — Varnado lets some of the air out of the building as he hits from down in the paint to make the MSU lead 39-32.
9:24 p.m. — Fortson responds to MSU’s 3 with a quick 5-0 run of his own, Hogs within 5, 32-37.
9:20 p.m. — Students come to their feet here in Bud Walton asit’s announced that classes are cancelled tomorrow thanks to the theweather, Stef’ll be going to the line for the Hogs coming out of the media timeout, MSU still up 34-26.
9:16 p.m. — Fortson’s picked the right time to get hot as he hits the 3 off the fastbreak, however Stewart gets his own 3 to go on the other end to keep MSU out in front by 8, 34-26.
9:15 p.m. — Courtney draws the foul and sinks ’em both, UA down 8, 23-31.
9:14 p.m. — Johnson opens up the scoring for the 2nd half with the floater and pushes the Bulldogs’ lead back to 10, 31-21.
9:06 p.m. — Right as Boss Hog drains a 3 from the top of the key, the Razorbacks take the floor for some 2nd half warm-ups, just 2 minutes away from 2nd half action here in Fayetteville.
— HALF — MSU 29, HOGS 21
8:54 p.m. — Stef heating up here at the end of the half as he sinks another 3 to cut MSU’s lead to 8, 29-21.
8:53 p.m. — Bost managed to draw the foul on his 3 attempt and hit 2 out of 3 from the line.
8:52 p.m. — Stef Welsh breathes some life back into Bud Walton as he hits the wide-open 3 from the right wing, MSU in front by 9, 27-18.
8:51 p.m. — Turner draws the foul and nails both shots to extend the Bulldogs’ lead to 27-15.
8:49 p.m. — Johnson throws down a disgusting slam to force Pelphrey to call a timeout and talk things over as MSU now holds their largest lead of the night on the Hogs at 10, 25-15.
8:47 p.m. — Bryant tags Augustus on his way up, however Augustus bricks on the and-1, Bulldogs up 23-15.
8:44 p.m. — Heading into the 4th media timeout of the night, MSU still leads it by 6 here in Fayetteville, 21-15 with 3:19 to play in the 1st.
8:43 p.m. — Fortson gets to the line and sinks both his freebies to break the Razorbacks’ scoring drought, Bulldogs by 6, 21-15.
8:41 p.m. — Britt sends Augustus to the stripe where he drains ’em both, MSU currently on a 6-0 run.
8:40 p.m. — Johnson hits the shot over a couple Hogs down low, MSU up 19-13.
8:38 p.m. — Varnado gives Washington an elbow to the ribs and gets called for it, Nobles earns his way to the line but not able to connect on the front end of the 1-and-1.
8:36 p.m. — Augustus hits both of ’em from the line coming out of the timeout, State in front 17-13 now.
8:34 p.m. — At the 3rd media timeout of the night, the Razorbacks trail the Bulldogs 13-15 with 6:52 to play in the 1st.
8:32 p.m. — Powell brings Bud Walton to their feet as he slams it, 1 posession game now with MSU up 15-13.
8:31 p.m. — Fortson hands it off to Washington under the bucket who puts it up and in, Hogs have cut it to 4 at 15-11.
8:30 p.m. — Washington gets the whistle and knocks down his first shot from the line, MSU up 15-9.
8:29 p.m. — Hogs give up an open laneand MSU takes advantage, Bulldogs ahead 15-8.
8:27 p.m. — Rotnei draws the foul off the inbound and manages to go 1 for 2 at the stripe to cut MSU’s lead to 5, 13-8.
8:26 p.m. — Stef turns it over, however Marshawn’s able to get a paw on it at the other end and block it away, MSU still up 13-7.
8:24 p.m. — We go to the second media time out with MSU up 13-7 in a defensive struggle. The WX isn’t the only thing ice cold-MSU shooting just about the outside temp — 31%; Arkansas is shooting the forecast for Friday night 18%
8:21 p.m. — Most interesting thing about tonight’s game so far — student chants in stereo.
8:21 p.m. — State gets a trey, then a travel as we’re at 13-7 MSU.
8:20 p.m. — Defense is dominating as these two teams are looking about as cold as the sleet outside the arena.
8:19 p.m. — State allowing Fortson driving lanes, then collapsing down to frustrate Arkansas.
8:18 p.m. — Powell gets both throws to make it 10-7 MSU, Hogs use the inbound to set a man full-court press. State advances up floor but does not get a quality shot.
8:17 p.m. — Fortson returns to the game after the full media time out, and looks fine; Hogs spreading the floor defensively but MSU is packing in on its defensive end. Results in almost a full clock minute of difficult offense for both teams.
8:14 p.m. — Razorback miss takes us to the first media timeout with MSU leading 10-5; a game of early runs, 4-0 MSU, 5-0 UA then 6-0 MSU; 15:07 on the clock
8:12 p.m. — State goes on a 6-0 return run after Arkansas opening 5-0 flurry to take the lead; Pel calls a time out as State leads 10-5 at 15:25; Fortson returns from the tunnel to the team huddle.
8:10 p.m. — Fortson takes it inside and comes down hurt, heally favoring his right ankle; he’ll check out.
8:08 p.m. — Powell gets the first bucket for Arkansas, then MSU loses the inbounds; Clarke makes the Dogs pay, 5-4 Arkansas.
8:05 p.m. — State controls the tip, gets an offensive board, and Johnson gets the put back, MSU up 2-0.
8:01 p.m. — Bud Walton goes nuts as they hit the lights for the Hogs’ starting line-up, tip now just moments away.
7:58 p.m. — I guess that’s Rick Stansburry’s kids leading State back onto the floor. Kind of cute, reminds me of the days back at Louisiana Tech when Kim Mulkey dressed her daughter up in the same pigtails she played in to lead the Lady Techsters onto the floor.
7:45 p.m. — Students starting to fill into other areas; this is almost an all-student crowd tonight. They have responded to the "walk-up" call — the on-campus students mostly.
7:30 p.m. — Both Arkansas and MSU take the floor for warm-ups as the students continue to pack it in here at Bud Walton.
7:00 p.m. — We are on the 60 minute clock, and Miss State is stretching. The students are also stretching their lungs. Small crowd = fiesty crowd.
6:31 p.m. — Reading through the notes from the Tulsa NWS, things looking better on the ice end, not so for snow on Friday. Expect a winter wonderland for tomorrow’s gymnastics meet with Kentucky. The gymnastics meet is on for 7 p.m. at Barnhill Arena tomorrow night.
6:00 p.m. — The doors open and the student hard-core have rushed in. Remember, ALL UA students get in free tonight with their ID.
5:37 p.m. — Tulsa National Weather Service has revised down the ice forecast for tonight — good news — but still a 1/4 inch of ice forecast and that’s going to make driving difficult later tonight. Again, please be careful out there.
5:35 p.m. — Going to repeat here a couple of important quotes from Jeff Long and the earlier press release about tonight’s game:
"With forecasts calling for a significant winter storm, and understanding the uncertainty of potential weather conditions, we want to encourage our fans to use their discretion when determining whether or not to attend tonight’s game," Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Jeff Long said. "Personal safety should be our fans first concern."
5:30 p.m. — Starting a little early tonight for the blog to let folks know how things are progressing. The light rain is on-and-off all afternoon, but the temp has dropped to 32 and elevated objects are beginning to ice.
