MBB Preview: Arkansas at Mississippi State

February 6, 2026

Who: #21 Arkansas Razorbacks (16-6, 6-3 SEC) at Mississippi State Bulldogs (11-11, 3-6 SEC)
What: Both the Razorbacks and Bulldogs are coming off a midweek bye.
When: Saturday – Feb. 7 – 11:00 am (CT)
Where: Starkville, Miss. • Humphrey Coliseum / Richard Adkerson Court (9,100)
How (to follow):
– TV/Stream: ESPN2 / Watch ESPN (Matt Schumacker and Richard Hendrix)
– Radio: Learfield Razorback Sports Network (Chuck Barrett and Matt Zimmerman)
– Sirius/XM: Sirius: 81 || XM: 81 || SXM App/Online Channel 81

– Razorback Gameday App
– Live Stats

– Arkansas Game Notes
– Mississippi State Game Notes
– SEC Men’s Basketball Release/Stats

FAYETTEVILLE – The #21 Arkansas Razorbacks start a span with four road games over their next six contests, starting with a trip to Starkville to face the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Saturday (Feb. 7). Tipoff is set for 11 am (CT) and the game will be televised on ESPN2.

Arkansas is 2-0 after midweek SEC byes since the league went to an 18-game schedule for the 2012-13 season. The Razorbacks won at Kentucky last season after a bye and beat Georgia at home in 2024.

The Bulldogs are one of the Razorbacks’ most common opponents since Arkansas joined the SEC (1991-92). LSU is the Razorbacks’ most common opponent with 72 meetings, followed by Ole Miss with 62. This will be the 62nd meeting between Arkansas and Mississippi State and, on Valentine’s Day, Arkansas will play Auburn for the 62nd time.

Both teams had midweek byes. The Razorbacks are coming off a loss to Kentucky last Saturday, but have not lost back-to-back games all season. The Bulldogs are coming off a close, 84-79, loss at Missouri.

After Mississippi State, Arkansas plays at LSU on Feb. 10. The Razorbacks return home to face Auburn on Valentine’s Day before returning to the road to play at Alabama (Feb. 18).

NOTES:

Arkansas and Mississippi State have met on 70 previous occasions. Arkansas won last year in the regular-season finale and holds a slight 36-34 advantage all-time. Since Arkansas joined the SEC, the Razorbacks lead the series, 31-30.
The Bulldogs have won 9 of the last 12 in the series.
Miss State leads 24-7 in games played in Starkville, including a 22-6 mark since Arkansas joined the SEC.
The Bulldogs have won six straight over Arkansas in Starkville with the Hogs’ last win coming on Feb. 21, 2015 (65-61).
Coach Calipari is 21-1 all-time versus Mississippi State, including a 9-0 mark in Humphrey Coliseum. Cal’s lone loss to the Bulldogs was a 74-73 setback in the 2021 SEC Tournament.
IN SEC GAMES ONLY, Arkansas ranks 1st in FG% (.507) – 2nd in AST/TO ratio (1.75) – 3rd in Scoring (86.11), Assists (16.11) and TO Margin (+2.44) and 4th in Def. Reb % (.691) and Blocked Shots (4.89).
Darius Acuff Jr. is on pace to set some freshman records. He is currently averaging 20.3 ppg and the UA freshman record is 18.7 by George Kok (1944-45). He has scored 447 pts and UA FR record is 540 by Scotty Thurman (1992-93). With 11 guaranteed games left, Acuff is on pace to score 667 points this season.
Meleek Thomas is on pace set the UA single-season 3-point percentage record in SEC games only. Thomas is currently making 47.5% of his triples and the US record is 47.4% by Rotnei Clarke (2011).

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