After a poor offensive outing in Wednesday’s loss to Georgia, the No. 20 Auburn Tigers needed to find confidence and hoped it would be found within the walls of Neville Arena.
The Tigers were able to find consistent production in both halves Saturday against Arkansas, as they cruised to a 72-59 win over the No. 13 Razorbacks.
Three Tigers ended the night in double-figures, led by Wendell Green Jr.’s 19 points and followed by Allen Flanigan’s 18 and Johni Broome’s 10-point night. Auburn scored 36 points in both halves, shooting 44% in the game.
Defensively, Auburn limited Arkansas’ hot-shooting offense to 34% from the field, and 13% from three-point range. In the second half, Auburn shut down most of Arkansas’ scoring by limiting Ricky Council IV to just five points in the half. The Razorbacks relied heavily on freshman Anthony Black, who scored 18 of Arkansas’ 34 second-half points.
The Tigers got solid production from their bench in the game, as they added 27 points from nonstarters. Outside of Flanigan’s impressive game, [autotag]K.D. Johnson[/autotag] added four points, while Tre Donaldson and [autotag]Dylan Cardwell[/autotag] added three and two points respectively.
Both offenses came out with all guns blazing through the first ten minutes of the first half, but none more than Auburn guard [autotag]Wendell Green Jr.[/autotag] Green, who went 2-for-12 in Wednesday’s loss to Georgia, posted 10 points during the stretch. He reached that total by going 3-for-4 from the field, and 2-of-3 from the three-point territory as Auburn led 24-17. Green would end the half with 12 points, which matched his average per game.
Both teams would close the half at a much slower pace. The Tigers outscored Arkansas 11-8 over the final ten minutes of the first half to take a 36-25 lead into the locker room. The Razorbacks ended the half without a field goal over the final 2:13 and ended the half by just shooting 33%.
Auburn also went through a stretch during the half where they did not record a point. [autotag]Tre Donaldson[/autotag] connected on a three-pointer with 3:09 remaining in the first half to give Auburn the 31-24 lead. The basket snapped a field goal dry spell that lasted 7:43. Auburn shot 41% from the field in the first half, and scored 15 points off of eight Arkansas turnovers. The Tigers also got 14 points from their bench in the half, led by [autotag]Allen Flanigan[/autotag]’s nine-point showing.
Auburn’s next game will take place on Tuesday in Oxford, Mississippi, as they face the Ole Miss Rebels for an 8 p.m. CT tipoff from the Pavillion at Ole Miss.
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