FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Auburn’s basketball team men finished its regular season with a 77-64 loss at the hands of Arkansas Saturday night, completing a 14-15 overall record, including a 4-12 mark in the SEC.
Auburn’s 30 percent three-point shooting did the Tigers in as they finished last in the SEC West.
“We had some foul problems early,” said head coach Jeff Lebo. “We didn’t shoot particularly well.”
Senior Frank Tolbert again led the Tigers in total points with 17 and shot 7 of 12 from the field. Rasheem Barrett finished with 13 points followed by Quantez Robertson with 12.
Arkansas’ Patrick Beverly had an outstanding night as he scored 27 points and went nine for 11 from the field, including a perfect 6-6 from beyond the arc.
“Beverly’s three-point game was extremely good today,” Lebo said. “He is playing a lot better down the stretch, and if you get (Sonny) Weems in there too, as a second shooter on the perimeter, that makes Arkansas a very hard team to beat.”
Beverly and the Razorbacks (20-10, 9-7 SEC) never let the Tigers back in the game in the second half, despite a mild rally in which Auburn narrowed a 19-point lead to 10.
“We battled hard today and just came up short,” Tolbert said. “We had a chance to win the game, but we just missed a couple of big opportunities.”
The Razorbacks are 15-1 at home this season and are on the bubble of making the NCAA March Madness tournament, which starts March 20. Saturday was senior night for Arkansas.
“I’ve just re-dedicated myself to the gym, and it’s been paying off for me,” Beverly said. “Coach (John) Pelphrey and the rest of the staff prepared us very well. We wanted to come out and get this victory for our seniors. Our point guards are making everyone better, and we did our jobs hitting open shots.”
The Tigers will play No. 16 Vanderbilt today in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta at 3:15 p.m. Auburn is the sixth seed in the SEC West and will face the Commodores in the tournament for the third time in Lebo’s four years at Auburn.
Auburn lost at Vanderbilt 78-71 Feb. 2.
