Troy’s third meeting this season with Arkansas State ended with the same result as the previous two, as the Trojans fell 81-66 in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference women’s basketball tournament on Sunday in Pensacola, Fla.

The third-seeded Trojans (20-13) trailed by 12 at halftime, but got within six points late in the third quarter. However, Arkansas State (20-10) pulled away with a 14-2 run over the final 1:44 of the third to build a 65-47 lead and Troy never got closer than eight points down the rest of the way.

“I think that we shot probably more poorly than we have all year in the beginning of that game, and that was a terrible mixture with not rebounding,” Troy coach Chanda Rigby said. “Because (Arkansas State) is the worst team you could have done that on because that’s how they got so much in transition because we were missing shots, not rebounding, and they were going in transition.

“I thought the team was really striving hard to get back in transition, but time after time after time we would have had to been perfect in those situations to keep them from getting a shot because that’s what they do.”

Kennedi Montue led Arkansas State with 21 points and eoight rebounds in just 20 minutes off the bench, while Crislyn Rose added 14 points and Zyion Shannon 13. The Red Wolves — who swept the Trojans during the regular season, 91-77 in Jonesboro and 89-85 in Troy — won despite shooting just 36% as a team.

Briana Peguero led Troy with 17 points, while Emani Jenkins chipped in 12, Shaulan Wagner had 11 and All-Sun Belt forward Zay Dyer scored 10 with 11 rebounds. Briann Jackson scored 10 points and grabbed 15 of the Trojans’ 52 rebounds.

Troy had a poor shooting night of its own, connecting on just 29% of its attempts in the game. The Trojans — unsuccessful in their attempt to win their first Sun Belt tournament title since 2021 — fell into an early hole with a 25% shooting effort in the first half.

Troy will now return home and continuing practicing, with an eye toward earning a spot in one of the various postseason tournaments.

“Because of the good play that they’ve had so far this year and some of the big teams they’ve beaten like Arkansas, and some of the big moments we’ve had, because they are a good team, there’s a very good chance that they’re going to earn postseason play,” Rigby said. “So it’s not over. Everything is up in the air.

“We’ll go back to Troy. They’ll be in school in class tomorrow morning. They’ll have a couple days off from basketball to rest their body and hopefully we’ll know a little more as the week goes on.”

Arkansas State advances to face top-seeded James Madison (28-4) in the Sun Belt championship game at 1 p.m. Monday, with television coverage on ESPN2. The Dukes beat No. 4 Coastal Carolina 89-65 in Sunday’s other semifinal, and are unbeaten in 19 games against Sun Belt opponents this season.

FAYETTEVILLE — Jonas Aidoo’s final college season hasn’t exactly gone as planned. A foot surgery in the offseason hampered him for most of the schedule, but he closed out the regular season on a high note in the Razorbacks’ 93-92 win over No. 25 Mississippi State on Saturday at Bud Walton Arena.

21 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three blocks, along with what ended up being the game-winning free throw with 11 seconds left, were credited to the fourth-year center. Aidoo said after the game that it’s all starting to come together after he’s recovered from his injury.

“Before, the games I was playing in, like my foot was killing me, I could barely move,” Aidoo said. “But now I can move now. I still have a little bit of pain, but it’s definitely tolerable. I’m just thankful that that pain is starting to go away finally.”

Aidoo’s play was critical in the first half of the game, as Trevon Brazile picked up two fouls early and had to sit for the remaining time, so it was up to Aidoo to anchor the post. In the first 20 minutes, he scored 11 points and had eight rebounds as well.

“Just got to go out there and play,” Aidoo said. “I don’t think about fouls or not. Just go out there and try to make winning plays at the end of the day. We’re not trying to worry about all those little mental things. Just go out there and play, try and win the game.”

Aidoo was heavily involved in the final seconds of the game. Along with his final free throw, he defended the final two shots that Mississippi State attempted, both of which were missed.

ALSO READ: Takeaways from Arkansas’ win over No. 25 Mississippi State

“I was just trying to go up and finish it, because there was like one second left on the shot clock,” Aidoo said of Arkansas’ final offensive possession. “And then, (I was) trying to just think back to Texas, when I made those free throws, when the second one hit back rim, I panicked a little bit.

“Then on defense, they got an offensive rebound, I panicked a little more, they missed it. But it was just the relief, but I’m just thankful we won that game.”

The Razorbacks will need Aidoo to play at this level from here on out, as the SEC Tournament starts Wednesday. Arkansas will face South Carolina in the first round.

Tipoff for that game is set for noon CT and it will air on the SEC Network. Stay tuned to HawgBeat for the latest in Arkansas basketball as the Hogs try to make some March magic.

FAYETTEVILLE — The No. 3 Arkansas baseball team (14-1, 0-0 SEC) clinched the series against the Portland Pilots (5-10, 0-0 WCC) with a 10-0 victory Saturday at Baum-Walker Stadium.

Razorbacks’ right fielder Kendall Diggs walked it off with a two run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to secure the third-ranked Hogs’ fourth run rule win in a row.

Arkansas starting pitcher Zach Root tossed six nearly perfect innings with just three hits allowed, one walk and 10 strikeouts. The transfer from East Carolina didn’t allow a hit through the first four innings.

The Diamond Hogs logged 10 hits on the afternoon and five of those came with runners on base and seven came with two outs. Arkansas batted in eight of its 10 runs with two outs. Portland had just four hits, one of which came with runners on.

Root racked up two punchouts and faced the minimum on just 23 pitches, while Portland starting pitcher Kaden Segel, a senior right-hander, faced just one more than the minimum across two scoreless innings to start the game. A leadoff single in the bottom of the first from left fielder Charles Davalan produced the game’s only baserunner by that point.

Portland’s first baserunner came via a two-out walk from Root in the top of the third inning, but the Hogs’ lefty bounced back with his third strikeout of the frame to strand the runner. The Razorbacks finally got to Segel in the form of a two-run double to left center from Wehiwa Aloy in the bottom of the third inning.

After another 1-2-3 inning from Root in the top of the fourth, the Razorbacks made it a 3-0 lead on a two out RBI single to center from second baseman Nolan Souza. Hogs’ centerfielder Justin Thomas Jr. and Wehiwa Aloy both drove two-run home runs to the Hog Pen in left field before the bottom of the fourth inning came to a close with the Razorbacks ahead 7-0.

Root lost his no-hitter bid with a leadoff single to third base in the top of the fifth, but he casually responded with three straight strikeouts to make up for it. The Pilots stuck with Segel, who bounced back with a scoreless bottom of the fifth inning after his five-run fourth inning.

Portland put together a pair of two-out knocks in the bottom of the sixth, but Root locked in for a third out to keep the Pilots scoreless. Davalan drove his third home run of the season — a solo shot — 388 feet to right field to give Arkansas an 8-0 lead in the bottom half of the sixth.

Sophomore left-handed pitcher Colin Fisher relieved Root to start the top of the seventh, a frame in which Fisher stranded a two-out baserunner. Diggs walked it off in the bottom half of the seventh with a two out, two run home run off the scoreboard in right center field.

Up next, Arkansas will face Portland in Game 3 of the series on Sunday. First pitch for that game is set for noon CT and it will air on SEC Network+.