Auburn basketball appears to be safe heading into the SEC Tournament this week, but winning a game or two in Nashville will give them a better seed.
The No. 7 Tigers have a chance to do that beginning Thursday night at 6 p.m. CT by facing No. 10 Arkansas in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament. How high of a chance does Auburn have of making it to Friday to face No. 2 Texas A&M? ESPN’s matchup predictor is giving a slight advantage to the Razorbacks.
According to ESPN, Arkansas has a 55.0% chance to earn the victory on Thursday.
Auburn won in convincing fashion on Jan. 7, 72-59, behind a 19-point effort by [autotag]Wendell Green Jr.[/autotag] Auburn’s bench was also an asset, as they provided 27 points to Auburn’s total.
Arkansas will have one advantage in Thursday’s game that it did not have in January, Nick Smith Jr. Smith was the nation’s No. 1 player in the 2022 recruiting cycle, but an injured knee kept him sidelined through the first two months of the season. Since his return on Feb. 11, he has reached double figures in points in five consecutive games, averaging 14.5 points per game in that span.
Auburn faces Arkansas Thursday night at 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network live from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
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