The Auburn Tigers (13-14, 4-8 SEC) found a way to pull out a victory in a back-and-forth game against the Arkansas Razorbacks (14-13, 7-5 SEC).
"I'm very proud of my team," said head coach Jeff Lebo. "We took the punch, got the lead and made some big plays in the second half and some big shots."
Arkansas jumped out to an early 9-8 lead with 15:40 left in the first half.
Senior guard Tay Waller responded with four 3-pointers to help give Auburn a 17-13 lead with 13:05 left in the half.
Two free throws by senior forward Lucas Hargrove kept the lead at six with just more than over 10 minutes left.
"Anytime you can get an SEC win late in the season, it means you are getting on a roll," Hargrove said. "With the conference tournament coming up, it is good to get everyone on the same page."
Hargrove turned in a solid game scoring 13 points and adding eight rebounds.
A three by Arkansas sophomore guard Rotnei Clarke cut the lead to 3 points.
Arkansas was unable to take advantage of Auburn's foul trouble and turnovers.
The Tigers turned over the ball 11 times in the first half and committed 11 fouls.
With 5:23 left in the first, Waller hit his fifth three of the half to bring the Auburn lead to eight.
After a three by sophomore guard Courtney Fortson and Clarke, the Auburn lead was cut to four with 4:13 left.
Arkansas also ran into some foul trouble, committing 13 in the half, but Auburn's inability to be consistent with free throws, shooting 69 percent from the line in the first half, kept Auburn from advancing
the lead.
A layup by senior center Brendon Knox with 1:13 left allowed Auburn to take its biggest lead of the half with nine points.
A 3-pointer by junior guard Marcus Britt made Auburn's halftime lead 42-36.
Auburn managed to hold Arkansas' leading scorer Fortson to nine points in the first half.
The Tigers hit seven 3-pointers in the half including, five from Waller.
"Every time we shoot the ball well, we win," Waller said. "Tonight it was just falling. As you can see, we played better once we made some shots. It felt good because I have not had a game like this all year."
Freshman forward Marshawn Powell led the way for Arkansas with 10 points, in the first half.
Four quick points by Arkansas to start the second half brought Arkansas within two points.
With 16:04 left Powell blocked a shot and Clarke came down and nailed a 3-pointer to bring Arkansas within one.
Waller answered again with another 3-pointer to stretch Auburn's lead back to four.
Clarke once again answered with a 3-pointer at 13:11 to cut Auburn's lead to three. Clarke finished the game with 16 points and was 4-9 from three-point range.
Another Auburn turnover led to a 3-pointer by senior guard Stefan Welsh to tie the game up at 55 with 12:05 left in the half.
Arkansas was able to take the lead at 59-58 with 10:15. This was Arkansas' first lead of the game since early in the first half.
Junior forward Delvon Johnson scored to bring Arkansas' lead to three, forcing Auburn to take a timeout. Johnson scored again at the 9:21 mark giving Arkansas a five-point lead, which was its biggest lead of the game.
Waller hit his seventh 3-pointer of the game with 7:41 left to give Auburn back the lead at 65-64.
After an offensive rebound by Powell, Arkansas regained the lead. Powell finished the game 10-16 from the field with 23 points and seven rebounds.
After a Fortson layup gave Arkansas a two-point lead, senior guard DeWayne Reed answered with a 3-pointer to give Auburn a 76-75 lead.
"I just wanted to control he team," Reed said. "I have been struggling for the past three games. We just wanted to win this one so badly."
Seventeen seconds later, Powell put one in to give Arkansas the lead back, but it was the last time they would be ahead in the game.
Auburn went on an 8-2 run that gave them a seven-point lead with 41 seconds left in the game.
Waller fittingly hit the free throw with 41 seconds left. He finished the game 10 of 15 from the field and seven of 10 from three-point range giving him a team high 29 points.
"Tay was terrific offensively for the whole game," Lebo said. "In this game, we finally got to the free-throw line more than our opponent, which is big."
Both teams were able to find the bottom of the net frequently as Arkansas shot 50 percent from the field and Auburn shot 61 percent.
The 92 points Auburn scored were the most points they have scored in an SEC game during Lebo's era.
Auburn's next game will be Wednesday at Ole Miss.
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