Mississippi State beats Arkansas 78-46

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) Gavin Ware scored 21 points, freshman Quinndary Weatherspoon added 16 points and Mississippi State easily beat Arkansas 78-46 Tuesday night.

Arkansas took a 10-9 lead early in the first half, but Mississippi State (10-13, 3-8 Southeastern Conference) responded with the next 11 points and continued to pull away. The Bulldogs led 42-20 at halftime.

The loss snapped the Razorbacks' five-game winning streak in the series. Arkansas (12-12, 5-6) started with a cold shooting touch and could never recover, making just 16 of 72 (22.2 percent) attempts from the field.

The 6-foot-9 Ware had an efficient night for Mississippi State, shooting 6 of 9 from the field, 9 of 9 on free throws and grabbing 10 rebounds. Three Bulldogs - Ware, Weatherspoon and Travis Daniels - had 10 rebounds.

Arkansas was led by 11 points from Jimmy Whitt.

It was a breakout performance for Mississippi State, which has mostly struggled during veteran coach Ben Howland's first season leading the program.

The Bulldogs received good production from three freshmen, including Weatherspoon, who shot 5 of 8 from the field. Malik Newman added six points and Aric Holman chipped in with five points, four assists and six rebounds.

Mississippi State shot 27 of 51 from the field (52.9 percent) and had a 50-39 rebounding advantage.

Arkansas is just 1-9 in games away from home this season.

---

TIP-INS

Arkansas: The Razorbacks ranked second in the country in 3-point percentage coming into Tuesday's game, shooting 42.6 percent from behind the arc. They made just 1 of 10 attempts against Mississippi State.

Mississippi State: The Bulldogs have won 13 of the past 15 against Arkansas at home ... Senior Fred Thomas made a free throw late in the second half to hit 1,000 points scored for his career.

UP NEXT

Mississippi State hosts Georgia on Saturday.

Arkansas travels to Mississippi on Saturday.

-----

Follow David Brandt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/davidbrandtAP