Turnovers were the difference in Auburn's 83-75 loss to Arkansas Wednesday night at Auburn Arena.
With just under four minutes left in the second half, Auburn guard Frankie Sullivan put his head down and drove toward the basket. Trying to make an acrobatic play, the slumping senior spun into the paint and had the ball stripped.
Arkansas pushed the ball up the floor and BJ Young found Marshawn Powell for an easy layup to put the Razorbacks up 10 with 2:43 remaining.
It was Sullivan's fifth turnover the game, and his play versus Arkansas Wednesday Night isn't going to help him get out of head coach Tony Barbee's dog house.
"He didn't play well offensively, obviously, with five turnovers," Barbee said. "I still didn't get the results from not starting him. I am just searching with Frankie. He is putting way too much pressure on himself as a senior to finish."
Earlier in the week, Barbee said he might limit Sullivan's minutes, but he took it a step further and kept Sullivan out of the starting lineup.
Sullivan, who had started 36 straight games for Auburn dating back to Jan. 17, 2012, finished with 11 points on 3-of-7 shooting. Despite coming off the bench, he still led the team in minutes with 31.
Sullivan and senior center Rob Chubb each had five turnovers, and Arkansas scored 21 points off 16 Auburn turnovers.
"We had 16 turnovers and not one against the press," Barbee said. "That tells you all you need to know. We had 10 between two seniors. That tells you all you need to know."
Arkansas (15-9, 6-5 SEC) received major contributions from stars BJ Young and Marshawn Powell. Young had a game-high 25 points and Powell added 20 points and nine rebounds.
Guard Chris Denson led Auburn (9-15, 3-8 SEC) with 18 points on efficient 6-of-9 shooting, but his effort wasn't enough to lead the struggling Tigers to a victory over the Razorbacks.
"The passion wasn't there," Denson said. I don't know what it was. I guess everybody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.
"You can't have lapses like that, especially toward the end of the season like we are. It just can't happen. I'm not saying Arkansas' a bad team, but we gave one away."
Arkansas entered the game winless in SEC road games. Auburn led 35-33 at halftime, but the Razorbacks picked up their offense in the second half, shooting 55.2 percent and picking up their first SEC road win.
"It was very disappointing," Barbee said. "We got down by 10, but we fought our tails off. We fought our tails off together in the first half. In the second half, we didn't do it. It is disappointing."
Over the past three seasons, Arkansas is 4-17 in SEC road games with three of those wins coming at Auburn Arena.
Auburn has lost eight of nine games and falls to 3-8 in SEC play.
"I think it's just all about the fight," Denson said. "At the point in time, we got to get it. It's like grind time. We dug ourselves a hole. It's go hard or go home right now. We don't got nothing to lose, so everybody's gotta go out and fight."
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