TOP 25 SEC WOMEN

Arkansas has nothing at the end

Arkansas coach Jimmy Dykes appeals a no call against Grambling State Monday, Dec. 29, 2014 in the second half at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville. The Razorbacks won 77-35.
Arkansas coach Jimmy Dykes appeals a no call against Grambling State Monday, Dec. 29, 2014 in the second half at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville. The Razorbacks won 77-35.

Mississippi State's women's basketball team still hasn't lost all season. Arkansas is still looking for its first SEC victory.

The No. 14 Bulldogs trailed for more than 26 minutes, but had a big finish to beat the Razorbacks 72-57 Thursday night at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Miss.

Freshman forward Victoria Vivians led Mississippi State (18-0, 3-0) with 21 points. Freshman guard Morgan William and sophomore forward Breanna Richardson added 11 points each for the Bulldogs.

Mississippi State outscored Arkansas 18-2 the final 6:20 after Kelsey Brooks hit a layup to give the Razorbacks a 55-54 lead with 7:24 left.

Arkansas shot 13.8 percent from the field (4 of 29) in the second half after shooting 60.9 percent (14 of 23) in the first half.

"We were right there with five minutes to go, but we're not going to beat a high school team shooting 4 out of 29 for the second half," Razorbacks Coach Jimmy Dykes said. "It's hard to win on the road when you don't make shots in the second half."

Brooks, a sophomore guard, led Arkansas (10-5, 0-3) with 16 points, but shot 5 of 20 from the field, including 1 of 10 in the second half.

Arkansas senior point guard Calli Berna had a season-high 12 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocked shots in 37 minutes.

"Calli was terrific," Dykes said.

Berna hit a shot from beyond half court with one second left in the first half to give Arkansas a 40-37 lead.

"I was uncomfortable at halftime, although we had the lead, because the game was too high scoring," Dykes said. "I knew we weren't going to score another 40 points.

"We're not that type of team. The game was going a little too fast for us."

Arkansas had 16 turnovers -- 10 in the second half -- to help Mississippi State have a 20-4 edge in points off turnovers.

"We got loose with the ball and let guys rip it from us and take it the other way," Dykes said. "Not being strong with the ball, not being tough with the ball, but part of that is Mississippi State is quick and long and really pressured us."

Arkansas sophomore forward Jessica Jackson -- who averaged 18.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in the first two SEC games -- had 9 points, 1 rebound and 6 turnovers. Junior forward Melissa Wolff added 10 points.

The Razorbacks' biggest lead of the game was 49-43 with 16:03 left after a three-point play by sophomore forward Khadijah West.

Mississippi State had nine blocked shots.

"I didn't think we took a lot a bad shots, but we got some blocked at the rim and we didn't get some to go down in the second half," Dykes said. "We were trying to set ball screens to knock the pressure off of us. Maybe we should have run a little bit more motion."

In other top 25 women’s games involving SEC teams, Alaina Coates scored 20 points and No. 1 South Carolina (15-0, 3-0 SEC) had six players with 10 or more points in a 102-59 victory over host Alabama (11-7, 0-3).Tiffany Mitchell scored 16 points for the Gamecocks and Asia Dozier added 15. ... Isabelle Harrison scored 21 points and Cierra Burdick had 14 points and 11 rebounds as No. 7 Tennessee (13-2, 3-0 SEC) trounced No. 9 Texas A&M 81-58 for its ninth consecutive victory.Ariel Massengale scored 14 points for the host Volunteers. Courtney Walker scored 25 points and Courtney Williams added 11 for Texas A&M (14-3, 2-1). ... Jennifer O’Neill scored 17 points to lead four players with 10 or more points and No. 10 Kentucky (14-2, 3-0 SEC) beat visiting Auburn 78-57. Linnae Harper added 15 points, and Alexis Jennings and Makayla Epps had 12 apiece. ... Tiaria Griffin scored 16 points to lead No. 20 Georgia (14-2, 2-1 SEC) to a 69-48 victory over visiting Missouri (10-6, 0-3). Missouri was led by Jordan Frericks with 12.

TOP 25 MEN

NO. 6 GONZAGA 88,

SAN FRANCISCO 57

SPOKANE, Wash. — Kevin Pangos scored 17 points, Przemek Karnowski added 16 and No. 6 Gonzaga beat San Francisco for its eighth consecutive victory.

Kyle Wiltjer had 15 points for the Bulldogs (15-1, 4-0 West Coast), whose only loss was at No. 7 Arizona.

Kruize Pinkins scored 20 for San Francisco (7-10, 1-4), which has dropped four consecutive. Devin Watson added 11 points.

In another top 25 men’s game, Jonathan Arledge scored 13 points to lead No. 25 Old Dominion (13-1, 2-0 Conference USA) to a 72-51 victory over host Marshall.

In an SEC men’s game, Johnathan Williams III scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while Keith Shamburger converted four free throws in the final minute of overtime to help Missouri (7-7, 1-0) defeat LSU (11-3, 0-1) 74-67 in overtime in the conference opener for both teams.

Sports on 01/09/2015

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