Mississippi State will try to continue the best start in school history by starting 2-0 in Southeastern Conference play.
The 22nd-ranked Bulldogs return home following an impressive five-game road trip to host Arkansas on Saturday.
Mississippi State (12-0, 1-0) improved to 12-0 for the first time in school history by beating Mississippi 61-54 on Wednesday night. Timmy Bowers scored nine of his 18 points in the final 5:06, helping the Bulldogs overcome a 10-point second-half deficit.
"All our guys realize that this is pretty much my team," Bowers said. "I know we've got a lot of good players. I'm not a guy with a cocky attitude, going out there and telling everybody this is my team. But I'm the guy who is the leader out there. The guys trust me with the basketball."
Bowers leads Mississippi State with 16.6 points and 4.6 assists per game, but he gets plenty of help. The Bulldogs also get 15.8 points and 10.8 rebounds from Lawrence Roberts, who transferred from Baylor.
Bowers and Roberts are the main reasons the Bulldogs look capable of defending their SEC West title.
"Mississippi State is playing good basketball right now. No one has found an answer for them," Arkansas coach Stan Heath said. "They have one of the better inside-outside combinations in the league in Lawrence Roberts and Timmy Bowers, but at the same time we don't want to let someone else hurt us."
The Bulldogs are back home for the first time since beating Xavier on Dec. 13. Mississippi State allowed just 56.4 points per game while winning five straight away from home since that victory.
Mississippi State will now try to extend a 13-game winning streak at Humphrey Coliseum, dating to last season.
"The Hump is a tough place to play, so we need to be ready," Heath said.
Arkansas (8-4, 0-1) lost 66-55 to LSU on Wednesday in its SEC opener. The Razorbacks never recovered from a poor first half, when they shot just 27.8 percent and fell behind 35-23.
Billy Pharis led the Razorbacks with career highs of 21 points and 11 rebounds, but Jonathon Modica was held to 11. He is the SEC's third-leading scorer, averaging 18.9 per game.
The teams split the series last season, with Mississippi State winning 84-54 in Starkville, Arkansas' worst loss since joining the SEC. Arkansas leads the series 22-12.
