Auburn's rally falls short in SEC Tournament loss to Arkansas

Despite a late rally by Auburn, the Tigers could not overcome a slow start in a 76-73 loss to Arkansas in the SEC Tournament.

“We're disappointed in the outcome,” said head coach Bruce Pearl. “Kids battled back both halves. (A) lesser character team I don't think would have.”

The Tigers (20-12) struggled on the interior for the duration of the game, allowing 48 points in the paint and getting outrebounded 37-19. Of Arkansas’s 37 rebounds, 13 were offensive, resulting in 18 second-chance points. 

The Razorbacks (20-12) shot 56% from the field, taking just 11 3-pointers in the game and making only three. Arkansas shot 25-of-39 from 2-point range and 17-of-23 from the foul line.

Slow starts to both halves plagued the Tigers. Auburn opened the game by falling behind 10-2 at the first media break. The Tigers fought back, cutting the deficit to four at halftime, but an 11-2 Arkansas run to start the second half erased all momentum for the Tigers.

“They beat us at the beginning of the first half and the beginning of the second half,” said point guard Wendell Green Jr. “I think that’s kind of where we lost the game.”

Pearl attributed Auburn’s slow starts to Arkansas’s effort and physicality, as opposed to a lack of effort by the Tigers.

“Arkansas came out with great energy, played really well. (The slow starts) had nothing to do with our effort,” Pearl said. “Arkansas jumped on us, played with great effort, energy. It had nothing to do with our lack of effort.”

Arkansas’s largest lead was 15, which came at the 14:04 mark. From that point forward, Auburn outscored the Razorbacks 34-22, briefly taking the lead with 41 seconds to go, but were unable to finish off the comeback, as Arkansas’s Nick Smith Jr. scored the winning basket with 16 seconds left.

Last season in Auburn’s SEC Tournament game against Texas A&M, K.D. Johnson went 0-for-14 in a scoreless performance. Exactly one year later, Johnson led all scorers with 20 points in a 7-of-10 shooting night, scoring 14 points in the second half and sparking Auburn’s rally.

“It felt good for myself,” Johnson said. “But on the team standpoint, I really wanted to get this win because I lost last year in the same way.”

After missing the Tennessee game due to injury, Dylan Cardwell returned to the floor for the Tigers. Cardwell shot 3-for-3 from the field and made a free throw in a seven-point performance, his best since scoring eight against Missouri on February 14.

Johnson and Cardwell combined for 27 of Auburn’s 28 bench points.

“Again, I thought the bench, you look at the numbers of our bench, K.D. coming off the bench, Chris (Moore) off the bench, Dylan off the bench, Tre (Donaldson). I thought they all did really well,” Pearl said. “Again, gave us a chance, when you're playing four games in four days potentially, we just didn't take advantage of it.”

One-and-done performances have become routine for Auburn in SEC Tournaments. In 10 of Auburn’s past 12 SEC Tournaments, the Tigers lost their first game. In that span, Auburn has won a game only twice: 2015 and 2019 — tournaments that saw Auburn win a combined seven games.

This season, close games have become standard for Auburn. The Tigers have nine single-digit losses this season, including eight Quad 1 defeats.

The Tigers will now await their NCAA Tournament draw, which will be announced during the selection show on Sunday night. The show begins at 5 p.m. CST and will be televised by CBS.

“Look, there are 260-something teams that are done and aren't playing in this tournament,” Pearl said. “Auburn is one of the teams that's playing for a national championship.”