FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Tahaad Pettiford scored 29 points and KeShawn Murphy set a career high, but No. 21 Arkansas split the season series by defeating the Tigers 88-75 Saturday at Bud Walton Arena.
“I thought our guys battled tonight,” Auburn coach Steven Pearl said. “Playing a shorter rotation, heavy minutes for a lot of our guys. Good job of putting out the effort required for us to have a chance. We had some step-up from Murph and Tahaad offensively. We weren’t able to get enough stops to stay in the game and didn’t make enough easy open ones as the game went on.”
Logging his second double-double against the Razorbacks this season and fourth overall, Murphy scored 22 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, blocked two shots and added a steal and an assist.
“He played with great pace and great tempo,” Pearl said. “He did a really good job of taking what the defense gave him. He was explosive tonight and that’s the Murph we need every single night for us to win. Happy with his performance. Murph played great.”
Murphy scored 18 of Auburn’s 32 first-half points, helping the Tigers head to intermission trailing by six points.
“Did a good job in the first half of dwindling it down to six,” Pearl said. “Beginning of the second half, we missed three wide open shots and they come down and convert on all three. That was ultimately where the game got away. It got up to 21 and you’re fighting back the rest of the game.”
Scoring 20 or more points for the third straight game, Pettiford poured in 17 of his 29 points in the second half, making 4 of 7 3-pointers while going 11-for-18 from the field. Pettiford had seven of Auburn’s 10 assists.
“He’s been phenomenal offensively the last three games,” Pearl said. “He’s doing his part offensively. I’m going to continue to push him defensively. He’s giving the effort that’s required. He’s really been consistent with his routines during the week in preparation for the games. When he’s making shots like that, our ceiling goes way up. He makes our team better.”
Arkansas freshman sensation Darius Acuff Jr. made 7 of 10 3-pointers and equaled his career-high, scoring a game-high 31 points while adding seven assists.
“He’s a phenomenal player,” Pearl said. “We did a great job on him the first game and obviously didn’t do very well on him tonight.”
Billy Richmond III also excelled for the Razorbacks, scoring 25 on 12-for-15 shooting.
“They had a lot of step-up,” Pearl said. “(Richmond) did a great job for them. He’s an X factor when he can do those things. Darius makes seven 3s. Those two things right there were ultimately where the game was decided.”
Elyjah Freeman added nine points and a season-high nine rebounds.
Murphy equaled his career high of 20 points by making Auburn’s first basket of the second half.
Arkansas broke open the game early in the second half with an 11-0 run that featured three Acuff 3-pointers in less than two minutes to take a 54-34 lead at the under-16 media timeout.
After trailing by 21, Auburn battled back, cutting the lead to single digits with a 7-0 run midway through the second half.
Richmond and Acuff kept the visitors at bay, combining for 18 of the Razorbacks’ final 23 points down the stretch to help Arkansas lead by double digits for the final 7:34, handing the Tigers their fourth consecutive loss.
Auburn (14-11, 5-7) remains on the road to play Mississippi State Wednesday at 8 p.m. CT at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville before returning to Neville Arena next Saturday to host No. 25 Kentucky at 7:30 p.m. CT in the AUTLIVE Cancer game featuring free AUTLIVE T-shirts for Auburn University students.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer