The frustration was evident on Anthony Masinton-Bonner’s face.

He spoke quietly after Wednesday’s 98-74 loss to visiting Arkansas for the CSU basketball team. Four losses in a row will do that to a coalescing team that's struggling to stop opponents from scoring.

“I wouldn’t say they created problems; I would say it’s more us,” Masinton-Bonner said. “We’ve got to take more pride in the defensive end.”

Here are takeaways from Wednesday’s defeat for Colorado State University.

Key runs

The Rams (4-5) trailed by as much as 22 points in the first five minutes of the second half before a 17-2 run cut the Arkansas lead to 67-60 with 12 minutes left, bringing the 3,238 fans Moby Arena to their feet.

An Arkansas timeout settled the Razorbacks (6-1) who went on a 13-0 run immediately afterward to gain a 20-point lead.

The Razorback's ability to go on scoring binges was the story of the game. Arkansas had two separate 9-0 runs in the first half and a 10-1 run in the first 2 minutes, 45 seconds of the second half to go up by 20.

CSU gave up 57 second-half points in Saturday’s loss at Colorado and allowed Arkansas to shoot 52 percent for the game. The Rams are allowing 80 points per game.

“We let our success on offense determine — as a team and individually — how we’re going to play defense. The good teams, it’s the other way around,” CSU coach Niko Medved said. “We have to change that quickly if this is going to change.”

Depth battle

Arkansas has depth and CSU doesn’t in Medved’s first year. Nine Razorbacks scored, with six finishing in double figures. Likely NBA lottery pick Daniel Gafford only played eight first-half minutes due to foul trouble, but the Arkansas bench scored 22 points in the first half and 38 for the game.

CSU played eight players, including Lorenzo Jenkins, who logged just 5 minutes, and had seven bench points, all from Kris Martin. The Rams will soon add another solid player in guard Hyron Edwards, who will sit out one more game before becoming eligible due to transfer rules.

Kendle Moore and J.D. Paige paced the Rams with 16 points each, Masinton-Bonner had 13 and Nico Carvacho had 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Bounce-back time

Wednesday concluded what will likely be CSU’s hardest stretch of the season. Arkansas was a No. 7-seed in the NCAA tournament last year and is likely to return this season. In this stretch, CSU also lost to South Dakota State, likely a tournament team, and potential mid-major conference title contenders Louisiana and Southern Illinois.

The key for the Rams is to adjust from the losses, starting with Saturday’s game against Sam Houston State.

“We played a tough stretch here. When you do that against teams like this, you’re going to get exposed,” Medved said. “If you approach it the right way, you can learn and get better and that’s the only choice we have.”

Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle at twitter.com/Kevin_Lytle and at facebook.com/KevinSLytle.

Arkansas 98, CSU 74

Arkansas 44 54 — 98

CSU 33 41 — 74

Arkansas (6-1) — Embery-Simpson 14, Joe 14, Gafford 12, Chaney 11, Bailey 10, Harris 8, Sills 8, Osabuohien 5.

CSU (4-5) — Moore 16, Paige 16, Masinton-Bonner 13, Carvacho 12, Thistlewood 10, Martin 7.

Attendance — 3,238

Next up — Sam Houston State at CSU, 2 p.m. Saturday at Moby Arena