Jan. 25, 2011
Fayetteville, Ark. - Playing its third game in six days, Auburn had a slow second half start in losing at Arkansas 73-64 in Bud Walton Arena on Tuesday. The Tigers cut a 24 point deficit to six but dug itself too big of a hole.
Auburn scored 31 points in the first 32 minutes of the game and 33 points in the final eight. Leading 34-30 at the half, Arkansas (13-6, 3-3) used a 21-1 run over the opening 11:23 to extend its lead to 55-31 as Auburn missed its first 22 shots from the field. Tony Neysmith ended the drought with a shot in the lane with 8:36 remaining in the game.
"We just kept fighting," said Auburn head coach Tony Barbee. "I told them that you can't get down just because the shots aren't going in. We had good looks in the first 10 minutes (of the second half). We got it to the rim, and I don't know how many layups we missed and some wide open jump shots. We pounded the ball into the post and couldn't get any production.
"I told the kids to keep fighting, keep fighting. That team is going to have a letdown. It is a game of runs and our run is coming. We made our run, but we couldn't just get over the hump. We played well enough on the road. We just can't have these lapses."
Auburn (7-13, 0-6) continued to battle as it made nine of its next 11 shots after falling behind by 24 and responded with a 13-0 run to cut the Arkansas lead to 55-44 with 5:33 left. An Allen Payne 3-pointer trimmed the deficit to 57-47 at 4:31. Chris Denson nailed a trey as the Tigers closed to 64-55 with 2:23 on the clock and then Tony Neysmith drove the lane to cut the lead to seven with 2:10 left.
The Tigers continued to chip away as Adrian Forbes made a conventional 3-point play to cut the lead to six at 68-62 with 1:10 left. Julysses Nobles made eight straight free throws down the stretch to keep Auburn at bay.
The biggest lead by either team in the first half was five points by Arkansas with a minute left as the Razorbacks after outrebounding Auburn 21-11.
Ross led Auburn with 15 points, Payne added 13 and Forbes chipped in a career-high 11 points in 21 minutes. Arkansas was led by Nobles and Rotnei Clarke with 16 points apiece and Marshawn Powell added 13 points and 11 reobunds.
Auburn shot only 31 percent in the second half to finish at 35.3 percent for the game. Arkansas went 47.8 percent from the floor, including 50 percent from the floor in the second half. The Tigers closed the rebound margin to 39-36 Arkansas.
Auburn plays at South Carolina on Saturday at 12:30 pm Central. The game will be televised by the SEC Network.