Davis scores 17, Mississippi State fends off Arkansas 70-64

0:26

Shakeel Moore makes beautiful dish for a basket

Shakeel Moore makes beautiful dish for a basket

Feb 12, 2023, 02:17 am

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- — Dashawn Davis scored 17 points and Mississippi State picked up its fifth straight win with a 70-64 victory over Arkansas on Saturday.

Davis sank 6 of 11 shots from the floor with two 3-pointers for the Bulldogs (17-8, 5-7 Southeastern Conference). Shakeel Moore finished with 12 points, five rebounds and five assists. Tolu Smith pitched in with 11 points and eight rebounds. Cameron Matthews added 10 points and six boards.

Anthony Black totaled 23 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals to pace the Razorbacks (17-8, 6-6), who saw their five-game win streak in SEC play end. Ricky Council IV had 10 points and six rebounds.

Mississippi State used a balanced scoring attack and 51.9% shooting from the floor to build a 34-25 advantage at halftime. Moore, Davis and Smith all had six points and eight players scored for the Bulldogs. Black had 12 points in the first half for Arkansas. He made 5 of 8 shots, while his teammates sank only 4 of 18 attempts. Neither team scored over the final 1:28.

The Razorbacks whittled away at the lead in the second half, pulling within 60-57 on a Davis layup with 1:22 remaining. Matthews followed with two free throws and a layup to push the Bulldogs' lead to seven with 50 seconds left. Black scored twice for Arkansas, but Matthews hit two more free throws and Smith had a dunk to put the finishing touches on Mississippi State's eighth win in the last 10 games against the Razorbacks.

The Bulldogs shot 47% overall to Arkansas' 44%, but MSU sank 6 of 10 attempts from 3-point range while the Razorbacks hit only 4 of 18. The Bulldogs led for all but 3:19 of the game.

Arkansas leads the series 35-33. Mississippi State notched its ninth win in 32 games in Fayetteville.

UP NEXT

Mississippi State: The Bulldogs return home to play Kentucky on Wednesday.

Arkansas: The Razorbacks travel to play Texas A&M on Wednesday.

------

AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP--Top25