Auburn heads into a second-round matchup against Arkansas in the SEC tournament, right off the cusp of a resume-building win against the Tennessee Volunteers.
“It was a great win,” said head coach Bruce Pearl. “It’s a win that a lot of programs wouldn’t have gotten. I’ll guarantee you I won’t take that win for granted.”
Last year the Tigers were the No. 1 overall seed in the SEC tournament after having won the SEC regular season championship. However, they lost to Texas A&M in the first round of the conference tournament.
Auburn (20-11, 10-8 SEC) hopes not to repeat that result as it aims to capitalize on a game against an Arkansas team (19-12, 8-10 SEC) that has lost its last three games coming into the tournament.
“Arkansas is really talented, really deep, really athletic,” Peal said. “We played great here at home. They weren’t at full strength because they didn’t have Nick Smith (Jr.). They were at a time in their season where they weren’t shooting the ball well at all. And we took full advantage of it by playing 40 possessions of zone.
The are a few keys to this game, besides playing zone, that the Tigers will want to emphasize if they are to move on to the next round of this tournament and keep building their tournament resume.
CONTAINING NICK SMITH Jr.
Smith Jr. has averaged 16.2 points per game on 41% shooting. He is the Razorbacks highest rated recruit in the Eric Musselman era and is projected to be a lottery pick in this year’s upcoming NBA draft. Just as Auburn looked to Zep Jasper to stop Tennessee's guards in its last game, Auburn may give Jasper the same assignment of guarding Arkansas' top guard again.
REBOUNDING THE BALL
The Tigers are averaging 36.8 rebounds per game compared to the Razorbacks 35.5. However, the Tigers cannot underestimate their length.
“They are big, they are running the boards,” Pearl said. “They’re athletic. So, keeping them off the glass will be important."
With Dylan Cardwell's questionable status for the game as he nurses an ankle injury, center Johni Broome and forward Jaylin Williams will have to step up and keep Arkansas’s forwards off the glass and out of the paint as much as possible.
LIMITING TURNOVERS
Turnovers have been a recurring problem for Auburn all season as the Tigers sit fifth in the SEC in most turnovers per game at 12.5. Meanwhile, Arkansas ranks fourth in the SEC in steals per game at 8.4.
“Arkansas will force some turnovers,” Pearl said. “They’ll force you to go faster. They’ll pressure the ball, and they will deny things. They are after turnovers, and they will create turnovers."
Auburn's Wendell Green Jr. will have to keep a good handle on the ball when he’s bringing it up the court as well as the other guards for Auburn to give the Tigers a chance of winning.
Auburn tips off inside Bridgestone Arena against Arkansas Thursday at 6 p.m. CST. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
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William Halliday is a junior journalism major from Memphis, Tennessee. He started with the Plainsman in fall 2022.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @wphalliday3
