Mississippi State is now 2-0 in SEC play after the Bulldogs survived a scare
from Arkansas by a score of 82-80.
The star of the game was senior forward Jarvis Varnado, who recorded his second
career triple-double with 17 points, 12 rebounds and 10 blocks. Varnado’s
previous triple double came against Kentucky in January of 2008. Former Bulldogs
hoopsters Lawrence Roberts and Jamont Gordon have the only other triple-doubles
in MSU history.
After the game, Varnado said he was happy just to escape with a win.
“That’s big [getting a triple double], but I’m just glad that we won the game,”
Varnado said.
The Bulldogs started the game by making their first eight shots of the game, and
held a commanding 19-point lead with 6:45 left to play in the first half. The
Razorbacks cut the lead to 12 by halftime and made a second-half comeback that
put MSU’s win in jeopardy.
Arkansas freshman Marshawn Powell scored 21 of his 25 points in the second half
to lead the charge for the Razorbacks. Despite keeping the score within five
points for the final three minutes of play, Arkansas never got the ball with a
chance to tie the game or take the lead, something that Phil Turner can take
credit for.
With the Bulldogs holding a four-point lead, Turner checked into the game after
a made Dee Bost free throw and stole the in-bounds pass. Turner was then fouled
and made another free throw to seal the game. MSU head coach Rick Stansbury said
Phil was put into the game to make a play.
“We put Phil in during that last minute to go make a play and he stole the
basketball,” Stansbury said.
Varnado, Bost, Ravern Johnson and Barry Stewart were all in double figures for
the Bulldogs, while Romero Osby was one point shy with nine points off the bench.
Star Arkansas point guard Courtney Fortson scored 16 points in the first half,
but was held to only four points in the second half and ended the night with 20.
Center Mike Washington had 16 points for the Razorbacks.
Arkansas head coach John Pelphrey, whose Razorbacks are now 7-8 on the season,
said that Varnado was the difference in Thursday’s game.
“The difference in tonight’s game was Jarvis Varnado,” Pelphrey said. “He had 10
blocks tonight in the game which is at least 20 points minimum. If we were able
to score four of those then we win the game.”
With his 10 blocks, Varnado passes former Wake Forest great Tim Duncan on the
all-time NCAA blocked shots list, and is now 52 blocks shy of topping the list.
The Bulldogs are off to a 2-0 start in SEC play for the third consecutive year,
but Stansbury pointed out that the season is far from over for his team.
“Naturally, we want to win two games, but it is still two games,” Stansbury
said. “This is a long season. We have fourteen more. The team that can survive
those highs and survive those lows will be successful. It’s not easy.”
The Bulldogs will now turn their attention to a Saturday afternoon matchup with
the Georgia Bulldogs. Saturday’s game will tip-off at 2:00 and will be televised
on ESPN2. For Varnado, the 8-7 Georgia squad is a group that does not need to
be overlooked by MSU.
“We now have high spirits going into Saturday’s game,” Varnado said. “Georgia is
a good team and we have to get focused on them.”