Arkansas Caps Regular Season with Win Over #25 Mississippi State

March 8, 2025

FAYETTEVILLE – Jonas Aidoo made a free throw with 11 seconds left and Billy Richmond blocked a shot with two seconds left to lead Arkansas to a 93-92 victory over #25 Mississippi State in the teams’ regular-season finale Saturday afternoon at Bud Walton Arena.

In addition to heroics from Aidoo and Richmond, D.J. Wagner led all players with 24 points, going 7-of-9 from the field and 7-of-7 from the free throw line. He additionally made a key 3-pointer as the shot clock was expiring to give Arkansas a 92-89 lead with 44 seconds left. Also, Trevon Brazile had a double-double in the second half alone with 11 points, going 3-of-5 from 3-point, and grabbing 10 rebounds in the period. He only played 2:55 of the first half due to foul trouble and had no points with one rebound.

With the win, Arkansas finishes 19-12 record overall and 8-10 mark in the SEC. The Razorbacks will be the ninth seed and face #16 seed South Carolina on Wednesday (Mar. 12) at Noon (CT) in the first round of the SEC Tournament.

Aidoo finished with his fourth double-double of the season with a season-high 21 points with 10 rebounds while tying his career high of four assists and adding three blocked shots. He was 8-of-11 from the field with four dunks, 5-of-10 from the line and grabbed six offensive boards.

Richmond had an SEC career-high 10 points, a career-high six assists and tied his career high with two blocked shots. Johnell Davis gave Arkansas five players in double figures as tallied 15 points with four assists and two steals.

Mississippi State had six players score in double figures with Claudell Harris Jr., leading the way with 18 points off the bench.

FIRST HALF: Arkansas: 45 – Mississippi State: 44

Arkansas scored first but Mississippi State led most of the half, 12:10 to 6:21.
After scoring first, Arkansas took a 25-24 lead on after a Karter Knox dunk followed by a Knox offensive rebound and putback.
Later, Arkansas used a 7-0 run to lead 34-31 thanks to two free throws and a 3-pointer from D.J. Wagner and a Billy Richmond III fast break layup.
Josh Hubbard tied the game at 39-39 with 3-free throws and a 3-pointer.
Jonas Aidoo put the Hogs back up four with two free throws and a dunk.
Claudell Harris answered for Mississippi State with two free throws and a 3-pointer.
Wagner provided the 45-44 halftime score with two free throws with five seconds left.
Wagner led Arkansas with 10 points, going 5-of-5 at the line, while Aidoo had eight rebounds, four on each end of the court.
Hubbard led the Bulldogs with 12 first half points.

SECOND HALF: Arkansas: 48 – Mississippi State: 48

Arkansas opened the second half with a 7-0 run to force a Bulldogs timeout. Overall, the Razorbacks opened the second half on a 20-8 run, forcing a second MSU timeout.
Arkansas grabbed its largest lead of the game, 16 points (70-54), with 11:41 left. The Razorbacks held a double-digit lead the next five minutes. The Bulldogs used a 7-0 run to trim their deficit to nine (81-72) with 6:15 left.
Two free throws by Johnell Davis pushed the Razorback lead back to 11 with 5:33 remaining. However, MSU went on a 12-0 run to lead 84-83 with 3:14 left.
The lead bounced back-and-fourth five times with three ties over the next two-and-a-half minutes. With the game tied, Wagner’s 3-pointer as the shot clock was expiring with 44 ticks remaining gave Arkansas a 92-89 lead. However, Hubbard answered with a 3-pointer to tie the game at 92 with 34 seconds left.
Arkansas missed a layup on the ensuing possession but Aidoo grabbed the offensive rebound. Then, with 1.8 seconds left on the shot clock and 11 ticks on the game clock, Aidoo was fouled. He made the first of two free throws for a one-point lead.
Riley Kugel had the first of two Bulldog attempts to win the game, but Richmond blocked his shot with two seconds left. RJ Melendez corralled the loose ball and his shot at the buzzer missed, caroming off the backboard then the rim, to give the Hogs the win.
Arkansas shot 61.5% from the field in the second half and Mississippi State shot 51.4%. The Hogs also shot 60% from 3-point (6-of-10) and MSU made 7-of-16 (43.8%).
Arkansas out-rebounded the Bulldogs, 18-14, in the second half.
Trevon Brazile played all 20 minutes of the second half. He had 11 points and 10 rebounds, going 4-of-6 from the field (3-of-4 from 3-point).
Wagner was 5-of-5 from the field in the half, scoring 14 of his 24 points in the period.
Richmond had four assists in the period.

GAME NOTES:

For the fourth straight game, Arkansas’ starting lineup was D.J. Wagner, Johnell Davis, Karter Knox, Trevon Brazile and Zvonimir Ivisic.
Arkansas won the opening tip. Arkansas has won the tip 22 times in 31 games.
Zvonimir Ivisic scored the game’s first points with two free throws at 18:59.
Jonas Aidoo was Arkansas’ first sub.
Arkansas and Mississippi State have met on 70 previous occasions. Arkansas holds a slight 36-34 advantage all-time. Arkansas snapped a two-game losing streak to the Bulldogs but has lost 9 of the last 12 in the series.
The series is tied at 31-30 since Arkansas joined the SEC.
Arkansas leads 24-9 in games played in Fayetteville, including a 23-8 advantage since the Razorbacks joined the SEC.
Coach Calipari is 21-1 all-time versus Mississippi State. The lone loss was a 74-73 setback in the 2021 SEC Tournament.
Mississippi State only committed two turnovers for the game, the fewest by an opponent since Texas A&M had two in 1993. Ironically, Arkansas won both games by one point with both games being decided in the final seconds. (HogStats.)
Arkansas has won 4 of its last 5. After a 1-6 start to SEC play (including 0-5), Arkansas finished the year 7-4.
Johnell Davis scored in double figures in 10 of his last 12 games and has 30 steals over his last 13.
Trevon Brazile recorded his second consecutive double-double and the eight of his career. It is the second time in his career he posted double-doubles in consecutive games, getting 14 and 17 vs Stanford and 13 and 10 versus Memphis last year in the Bahamas. He had 39 rebounds over the last four games (9.75 average).
Jonas Aidoo (21 pts, 10 reb, four assists, three blocks) is the second Razorback since 1996-97 to tally 21-plus points, 10-plus rebounds, 4-pus assists and 3-plus blocked shots. The other was Moses Kingsley vs LSU (2/23/16) with 21-12-4-3.
Jonas Aidoo’s 21 points is a season high.
D.J. Wagner had a season and SEC career-high 24 points. (His previous SEC career best was 19 points vs Arkansas last season).
Billy Richmond III had an SEC-high 10 points, tied his overall career-high with two blocked shots and dished out a career-high six assists.

For more information on Arkansas Men’s Basketball, follow @RazorbackMBB on X.