On a brisk Saturday afternoon in Starkville, Mississippi, Mississippi State welcomed Arkansas to the Hump for a must-win Southeastern Conference game. Mississippi State and Arkansas delivered one of the ugliest games of the season with a complete rock fight ending with a Mississippi State win.

Coming into the matchup on Saturday, Head Coach Chris Jans and his Mississippi State Bulldogs knew the importance of Saturday, and a win over Arkansas would give the Bulldogs a needed boost in the arm to finish the race to the Southeastern Conference Tournament. Not as bad as Arkansas, Mississippi State has struggled this season to find an identity despite beating Auburn and Tennessee. For Mississippi State, Saturday could be when the Bulldogs reestablished their identity. That win over Arkansas was ugly, but it could signify the win that pushed Mississippi State to achieve greatness during the last few weeks of the season.

From the opening tip to the final buzzer, Arkansas and Mississippi State threw haymakers going all twelve rounds as in a heavy-weight prize fight; rebounding and crucial free throws would eventually nail the coffin shut on the Razorbacks, moving the Bulldogs to even in Southeastern Conference play.

From the game perspective, there are a lot of takeaways, both excellent and ugly, that are redundant at this point. With a Wednesday night home game against Ole Miss, there’ll be a few days to watch the tape to digest what we saw on Saturday and what to expect from the matchup with the Rebels. Mississippi State has winnable games against Ole Miss, LSU, and Kentucky over the next week. Two of those games, Kentucky and Ole Miss, are at the Hump, giving Mississippi State the homecourt advantage as they make a run at an at-large NCAA Tournament bid, with a favorable draw in Nashville for the Southeastern Conference Tournament.