Arkansas 75, No. 22 Mississippi St. 64

By

Posted 6:48AM on Wednesday, January 9, 2002

FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS - The first time Mississippi State's Mario Austin touched the ball, he turned around for a nice 10-foot jumper. The next time, Arkansas ran a second defender at Austin and he threw the ball away - a harbinger of things to come for the sophomore who carried the Bulldogs in their victory over Kentucky. When Austin completed a 10-0 run with two free throws, he had six points and the Bulldogs were in front 12-8. During the final 35:51, he scored one more basket. Austin, who scored 25 of his 32 against Kentucky after intermission, finished with 11 against the Razorbacks and Arkansas knocked off the No. 22 Bulldogs 75-64. ``We had guys swarming him,'' said Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson. ``He hit shots early, but Alonzo (Lane) really shut him down.'' Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury saw it much the same. ``We weren't able to get it into Marcus as much as we wanted to,'' Stansbury said. With the Razorbacks pawing and pushing, Austin also suffered five turnovers. Ranked for the first time since the 1995-96 Final Four team, the Bulldogs (14-2, 1-1 SEC) never recovered from a 14-0 run that put Arkansas (10-4, 2-0) in front 57-40 midway through the second half. Mississippi State's Derrick Zimmerman called the spurt which revolved around Brandon Dean and Michael Jones the back-breaker. Zimmerman helped cut the lead to nine before Jannero Pargo made a reverse layup and a 3 for 65-52. ``You know Arkansas is going to be making runs, you just have to withstand it,'' said Mississippi State's Marckell Patterson. ``They doubled, tripled and quadrupled the post (Austin) but that's Arkansas basketball, what can you say?'' ``Coming into the ball game, we knew we had to control the basketball,'' Stansbury said. ``It's easier said than done though, especially against Arkansas.'' During the decisive spurt, Dean scored twice and got teammates and fans enthused with his defense. Jones contributed two baskets and an important assist. Arkansas led by 10 early in the second half, but Zimmerman's layup after a T.J. Cleveland turnover cut it to 43-40. Jones' tip bounced through before Dean stole the inbounds pass and flashed past a defender for a reverse layup. Out of nowhere, Dean went high to reject a short jumper. Pargo got to the other end quickly for a jumper and then Dean ran by Michal Ignerski and made him reload for a 3 that he missed. Dean split two defenders for 51-40. Lane stepped around Austin for an interception and, after a time-out, Jones was good from the corner. After another miss, Lane wheeled around his man for a shot that hung on the front rim and fell through. Jones went up for a jumper but instead found Lane for a layup and 57-40. ``You've got to expect great games from Brandon Dean,'' Richardson said. ``He's got all the ability. His defense is tremendous. He just needs to take the right shots, and this year he's done that.'' Dean was 6-of-11 Tuesday night and is 73-of-129 in his last dozen games. Pargo led Arkansas with 18 and Dean scored 16. Zimmerman led Mississippi State with 17. ``When Pargo and Dean play up to their potential, Arkansas is a very difficult team to beat,'' Stansbury said. ``Each game, we've improved on some aspect of our game,'' Richardson said. ``If we can keep it up, this team can go far.''