By Grant Tolley
TIMES RECORD • GTOLLEY@SWTIMES.COM
FAYETTEVILLE — Finally, it was loud again in Bud Walton Arena.
Mike Anderson’s first Southeastern Conference game as the Razorbacks’ head basketball coach drew 12,200 Razorback fans on Saturday as the Hogs pestered No. 15 Mississippi State with a full-court defense that forced 18 turnovers and lit up the scoreboard for a 98-88 win.
“It was a great night of basketball, we played with a lot of passion,” Anderson said. “It was a great atmosphere and the crowd really gave us a lot of energy.”
Arkansas (12-3, 1-0) extended its winning streak to seven games since a 78-63 loss at Oklahoma on Dec. 10. Mississippi State (13-3, 0-1) had only a 54-52 loss to Baylor in its last 13 games prior to Saturday.
Julysses Nobles scored 15 of his 24 points in the first half and BJ Young lit up the second half with 16 of his 24 after the break.
“Julysses played with a lot of confidence,” Anderson said. “He came out and made some shots early and really got it going. Good things can happen when you are shooting the basketball well.”
Arkansas shot a blazing 68 percent from the field in the second half.
The game wasn’t as close as the final 10-point margin indicates. Arkansas took control early and steadily pushed the lead, building it up to as many as 20 points when Hunter Mickelson scored inside with just less than the 10-minute mark of the second half for a 75-55 lead.
Mardracus Wade and Michael Sanchez both hit double figures with 12 points and Rashad Madden had 11.
“We played very unselfish on defense, deflected passes and kept them out of rhythm,” Anderson said.
Arkansas forced 11 MSU turnovers in the first half to key a surge to a 43-37 halftime advantage. Nobles hit 3 of 6 on 3-pointers and had 15 points in the first half.
Arkansas jumped out early by using a 8-0 run to post a 14-7 advantage. The Hogs kept up the heat and had the crowd roaring as they built the advantage to double digits at 39-29 on a 3-pointer from Nobles.
In the second half, Arkansas kept the pressure on Mississippi State never seriously challenged the lead.
“Hopefully this team is just going to continue to grow and continue to get better and we are going to have a lot more games with this kind of atmosphere,” Anderson said. “We are looking for more good things to happen with this basketball team.”
Arkansas plays at Ole Miss at 7 p.m. on Jan. 11, then returns to Bud Walton Arena on Jan. 14 against LSU. Tipoff is at 8 p.m.
