Mississippi State @ Arkansas preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 22, 2020 ) Arkansas 70, Mississippi State 77

A pair of SEC teams that are coming off ugly losses square off Saturday afternoon when Mississippi State visits Arkansas. The Buldogs suffered a season-worst 25-point loss at Ole Miss on Tuesday, while the Razorbacks have lost three straight, including a 21-point setback at Tennessee that same night.

Sophomore forward Reggie Perry is the top scorer for Bulldogs coach Ben Howland, averaging 17.7 points and 9.9 rebounds on the season but turning it up in conference play to the tune of 21.3 points over his last nine games. One Mississippi State player who is looking for a bounce-back performance is junior point guard Nick Weatherspoon (11.7 points, 4.4 assists), who was 0-for-5 for no points and had six turnovers before fouling out in the loss to Ole Miss. The Razorbacks have been falling apart lately, dropping six of their last eight contests after starting the season 14-2. Junior guard Mason Jones leads the way with an SEC-best 20 points per game, but the Razorbacks have really missed the production of sophomore guard Isaiah Joe (16 points, SEC-best 72 3-pointers), who has been out the last three games and isn't expected back anytime soon with a knee injury.

TIME: 1 p.m. ET. TV: SEC Network

ABOUT MISSISSIPPI STATE (15-9, 6-5 SEC): If the Bulldogs have any hope of making it back to the NCAA Tournament this season, they'll need to turn it around in a hurry, especially after the ugly loss to Ole Miss in which Mississippi State entered the game as a betting favorite. The Bulldogs have been consistently inconsistent since the start of SEC play, going 6-6 since the start of January, with both a three-game winning streak and a three-game losing streak. With just seven regular-season games remaining on its schedule -- including four on the road -- Mississippi State must turn things around in a hurry if it hopes to join the Big Dance for the second straight season.

ABOUT ARKANSAS (16-8, 4-7): The Razorbacks' loss to Tennessee was significant in a few ways, one being a third straight defeat but by a greater margin than the two overtime setbacks that preceded it. Another was the fact that Jones came off the bench for the first time this season in what coach Eric Musselman described as an effort to get some scoring from his reserves. But others felt it was a disciplinary move for Jones, who was seen arguing with Musselman during the Razorbacks' previous loss to Missouri last Saturday, a game in which he shot 3-for-14 from the floor, followed by a 1-for-10 showing against Tennessee.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Mississippi State G D.J. Stewart Jr. has been getting hot lately, averaging 12.5 points over the last seven contests.

2. Arkansas G Jimmy Whitt Jr. has played at least 40 minutes in a game eight times this season, including logging 40 in each of the Razorbacks' last three contests.

3. The Bulldogs has won five straight meetings between these two teams, including a 77-70 victory in Starkville, Miss., earlier this season.

PREDICTION: Mississippi State 74, Arkansas 68