There weren't as many points scored as we expected, but the Tigers couldn't come away with the win.
Bad free throw shooting, letting Arkansas rebound their few misses, a technical against Bruce Pearl, and you have a recipe for disaster for the Auburn Tigers, which is what we saw, tonight.
Auburn started hot, and it was the thee-point shooting which kept Auburn in it early as the Tigers couldn't get much else going from the floor. Arkansas, meanwhile, was shooting as they always do. It was still a pretty close game until late in the first half when Bruce Pearl was given a bench warning for leaving the coaches' box and then T'd up less than a minute later for doing it, again. The Hawgs were able to go into the half with a 9-point 40-31 lead.
The Razorbacks came out hot in the 2nd half and had the lead to 13 at one point. The Tigers didn't fold, though, as they kept fighting hard. The lead was cut to as little as 6 by the Tigers with around five minutes to play. If the Tigers had made more of their free throws - particularly the first part of the one-and-ones - then this may have been a different story.
When you shoot around 50% from the free throw line and are around 10-23 from beyond the arc, you're bound for disappointment. Just a few of those falling would have made this a much different game. When you're playing a team that shoots as effectively as Arkansas does, you absolutely have to make those shots.
For the talk of Auburn's struggles on defense, holding the Razorbacks to under 85 points should have been enough for Auburn. That's the number Arkansas usually needs to win. They couldn't do it tonight, though.
Auburn's next game is in Athens against the Georgia Bulldogs. Auburn is at 17-12, now, and really need a win in one or both of the final games to get a NIT bid.
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