Auburn basketball has officially completed its nonconference schedule following its win over Penn on Tuesday. Now, the Tigers will face their first of many challenges in their SEC slate.
Auburn will take its No. 25 ranking and 11-2 record on the road on Saturday, meeting the Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville for the first time since last year’s SEC Tournament.
Auburn is currently riding a six-game winning streak since its loss to Appalachian State in early December, which also happened to be its last true road game. On the other side of things, Arkansas is continuing to bounce back following its last loss, as it has won its last three games to finish out nonconference play. The Razorbacks came out victorious in their most recent game against UNC Wilmington on Saturday.
Despite leading by just six at the halfway point, Arkansas never allowed the moment to get too big. The Razorbacks never allowed the Seahawks to gain the lead back after the two teams battled in the middle of the first half, pulling away to drop 58 points in the second half and secure their first 100-point performance of the season.
The second half offensive explosion was propelled by an 11-4 run that came halfway through the period, led from impact plays by both Davonte Davis and Jalen Graham.
Both teams have not had trouble scoring all season, as both teams rank inside the top 50 in the country in points per game. While the physicality of the Razorbacks may prove well for their performance offensively, they will have to limit the turnovers they commit. Arkansas commits 12.3 turnovers per game on average, which places it tied for 182nd in the country as well as in the negative in the turnover department compared to its opponents.
This could prove to be a problem against a team in Auburn who forces its opponents into turning the ball over 13.6 times per game, and getting 17.5 points per game off of those mistakes.
In addition to forcing turnovers, the Tigers will also have to make sure that they are on point when it comes to shooting from the charity stripe. Although they rank fourth in the SEC in free-throw percentage at 74.1%, the Tigers are facing the team with the second-most attempts nationally at the line this season. If this game comes down to a battle at the line, the Tigers will have to execute in order to win against a team who excels in drawing fouls.
Auburn will need to find its stroke from beyond the arc as well, as it ranks 11th in the conference in three-point percentage at 33.4%. While the Tigers shoot drastically more long-range shots than Arkansas does, the Razorbacks are more successful at draining them. Simply put, if Auburn can go shot-for-shot offensively in a tough environment, it can find a way to win in a place it has not won since the 2020 season.
The Tigers will have to stop the likes of Tramon Mark, Trevon Brazile and Khalif Battle though, as they rank inside the top 15 of the SEC in individual three-point percentage. If they get hot, Arkansas will be a difficult team to stop.
This is game is set to tip off from Bud Walton Arena on Saturday, Jan. 6 at 1 p.m. CST and will be broadcast on ESPN2.
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Tyler Raley is a junior from Birmingham, Alabama, majoring in journalism.
Twitter: @traley34
