FAYETTEVILLE - Charles Rhodes' jersey was untucked and soaked with sweat by the time the final buzzer sounded Wednesday night.

The power forward was in no mood to hang around and watch the celebration that followed Mississippi State's first loss in more than a month.

For 37 minutes, Rhodes hit the floor, faced double-teams from Arkansas and struggled to get his shot off in the paint.

It didn't seem to matter that his childhood friend, Arkansas forward Charles Thomas, was nowhere to be found during the Razorbacks' 78-58 win in Bud Walton Arena.

"Tonight was a tough, tough, tough night for me," Rhodes said. "... They just kept the ball out of my hands. And when they didn't, I had to make tough shots.

"The shots I made, (I'm) pretty sure they were tough shots. They did a job on me tonight, but it ain't going to happen again."

Heading into Wednesday, the popular perception was that Arkansas would have trouble containing MSU's big men, especially with Thomas serving a suspension for violating team rules.

To make matters worse, Rhodes was coming off a dominant performance in which he scored 26 points on 12-of-14 shooting in the Bulldogs' 88-68 win over Ole Miss last Saturday.

But Arkansas' big men of Michael Washington, Vincent Hunter and Darian Townes defended the paint and made things especially tough on Rhodes.

The Razorbacks flustered the 6-foot-8, 245-pound senior in the first half, holding him to just three points on 1-of-5 shooting.

Rhodes finished with 11 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, but it didn't come easy. He played a nonfactor at times -- despite not facing Thomas, his former AAU teammate from Jackson, Miss.

"If Charles Thomas would have played, it would have been great for both of us because, you know, that's my good friend," Rhodes said. "I'm from Jackson, so it would have made it more interesting.

"But that's how (the Razorbacks) do: If one guy goes down, they pick it up."

The Razorbacks used double teams to get Rhodes out of his game early on. Arkansas coach John Pelphrey also kept rotating his big men off the bench, which Rhodes admitted took a toll on him.

The senior fell to the hardwood after trying to drive past Arkansas center Steven Hill with less than five minutes remaining in MSU's first loss since Dec. 15.

Hill blocked Rhodes' shot in the paint, leading to a dunk by Arkansas forward Sonny Weems on the other end of the court. The sequence extended the Razorbacks' lead to 68-52 with 4:52 remaining.

It was that kind of night for Rhodes.

He finished 4-of-11 from the floor, committed five of MSU's 22 turnovers and didn't really find a rhythm until the Bulldogs trailed by double digits in the second half.

"I wouldn't say I was surprised," Hill said of the way he and his teammates contained MSU's post players. "Like I said, we're pretty deep at the big man position.

"We had some guys that stepped in and played where Charles would have played, and (they) played really, really well."