Jan. 14, 2018
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AUBURN, Ala. -- Junior Janiah McKay scored her 1,000th career point and led the Tigers with 26, but Auburn could not overcome a large early deficit in a 68-58 loss to Arkansas Sunday at Auburn Arena.
The Tigers (10-7, 1-4 SEC) fell behind by 24 at halftime, thanks in large part to nine first-half 3-pointers from Arkansas (11-7, 2-3). But the Tigers held the Razorbacks without a second-half trey and cut the deficit to single-digits late, outscoring Arkansas 41-27 in the second half.
"It's a disappointing loss," Auburn head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. "We are a much better team than what we played today. ... They're making eight 3s a game. We gave them (nine) in the first half. We stopped it, but the game plan in the beginning was to not let them get 3s. I had to call a quick timeout because we gave up two 3s right away. We have to be way better than that."
McKay's 26 points led all scorers. She was 7-of-15 from the field and 12-of-14 at the free-throw line and now has 1,015 career points. With her 11th point of the game -- a jumper at the 6:48 mark of the third quarter -- she became Auburn's 33rd all-time 1,000-point scorer. It also marked McKay's third straight game with at least 25 points.
Freshman Unique Thompson recorded her fifth double-double of the season -- her first in SEC play - with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Arkansas led 41-17 at halftime after shooting 58.8 percent in the second quarter while the Tigers made just two shots in the period. From there, Auburn chipped away at the lead and got as close as eight points in the fourth quarter, but the early deficit was too much to overcome.
Arkansas shot 39.3 percent for the game and was the first team this season to take more shots than the Tigers. Auburn also forced just 12 Arkansas turnovers, the fewest in a game for an Auburn opponent since the 2015-16 season. The Razorbacks also out-rebounded Auburn 39-33.
Kiara Williams and Jailyn Mason led Arkansas with 15 points. Williams also had 14 rebounds.
Auburn is back in action on the road at LSU Thursday night. Game time is 7 p.m. at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge.