Dropping its previous eight games, the Mississippi State University men’s basketball team entered Saturday’s contest against the Arkansas Razorbacks searching for a way to snap the losing skid.  
The Bulldogs fought back and forth with the Razorbacks all game long, playing catch-up for majority of the game. Both teams took turns going on different scoring runs. The Bulldogs used a late second half surge to cut into a 15-point lead with 6:45 left in the game. 
 
They came within four points of tying the game, but eventually, the clock ran out, causing them to drop their ninth consecutive game 73-69.
Despite trailing for the majority of the game, the team still fought hard to the end and never quit. 
Head Coach Rick Ray said he expects his team to play hard.
“I know some people want to give these guys credit for playing hard through the losing streak, but if you’re not playing hard, then you’re not giving yourself a chance to win,” Ray said.
The win by the Razorbacks was their first win at the Hump in 14 years. MSU now stands at 13-14 overall and 3-11 in conference play. 
The Dogs will look to snap the streak when the University of Tennessee comes rolling into town on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Senior Colin Borchert came off the bench and paced the team with 21 points, one point shy of his career high.
During the game, the Bulldogs saw both of their point guards go down due to injuries.  
Junioir Trivante Bloodman hobbled off the court midway through the second half with an ankle injury, and freshman I.J. Ready took an elbow to the face late in the game causing him to miss the final possession.
Senior Tyson Cunningham and sophomore Fred Thomas did not see the court on Saturday. 
Ray said the two were not on any kind of punishment. Stepping up in their absence was walk-on forward Tevin Moore.  
Moore played a career-high 17 minutes and provided high energy on both ends of the floor. He finished with five points and four rebounds. 
Ray said Moore has been working extremely hard in the practices, and Ray wanted to reward him with playing time.
“Tevin has been probably the most enjoyable kid I’ve ever coached in my coaching career,” he said. “He’s never complained about his playing time. He’s been on our ‘White’ scout team and never complained. He is a great teammate, and I thought we deserved to give him a chance.”
Moore said he just wanted to take advantage of his opportunity.
“My confidence is something I just built up working in practice getting the reps, and I was going hard every day, and when my name was finally called, I just took that chance,” Moore said.
A lack of depth on the roster has been the focal point of the team. 
With an already thin roster, Moore’s contribution to the team will be beneficial for the Dogs as they look to finish out the regular season and head into the SEC Tournament.  
Razorbacks head coach Mike Anderson said even with a short-handed roster, he thinks Ray does a tremendous job and is taking the team in the right direction.
“It’s a timing issue. I was in his same situation before. You got to work with what you got until you can get what you want. He has those kids playing hard, and they’re believing.” Anderson said.
Shooting guard Craig Sword said it is important to stay positive and continue to push forward despite being on a difficult losing streak.
“We’re not going to let this (losing streak) affect us,” Sword said. “We want to just move on to the next game and try to get the next win. We just have to look forward, we can’t look back on these losses.”