No. 15 Arkansas ran into a desperate opponent on Saturday with Auburn handing the Razorbacks a 95-73 loss in SEC road action.
Arkansas (12-4, 2-1) was looking to stay unbeaten in the SEC while Auburn (10-6, 1-2) was looking to get into the win column inside the league for the first time. Arkansas held an 8-6 lead with 16:59 remaining in the first half, but Auburn went on an 8-0 run and never trailed again. John Calipari wasn't pleased with the outcome.
"This is a burn the tape game," Calipari said. "That wasn't my team. We haven't played like that all year. We had some guys that either came in with an attitude that 'I'm not going to have to fight. I'm just gonna play basketball.' When you are playing a desperate team you better be desperate."
Auburn won the rebounding 37-28 with KeShawn Murphy pulling down 10 to go with his 16 points and double-double.
"We got outrebounded by how many? Calipari said. "It was 12 at half. Then we got beat on the bounce which we talked about for two days. Then we're shooting 3s and that's not who we are. Why would you shoot a 3 instead of driving and getting bumped? Because it's easier, but you're not going to win."
Arkansas made 8 of 21 from deep (38%) while Auburn was 10 of 22 (45%) from distance. Auburn was much better shooting from the floor with 34 of 60 (57%) to only 25 of 58 (43%) for the visitors. Auburn shot 24 free throws to 21 for the Razorbacks.
"You've got to get to the rim," Calipari said. "And you can't do it if you are only shooting 3s. And you know what happened to them? They made a lot of 3s because they got in the lane four or five times and kicked out which is how we (normally) play."
Darius Acuff Jr. topped the Hogs with 19 points. Fellow freshman guard Meleek Thomas added 17 points, three rebounds and four assists. Malique Ewin continues to play better basketball recording a double-double with 13 points and 12 boards. Trevon Brazile had 12 points and five boards. Karter Knox was limited to seven minutes due to an injury to his back.
Auburn was topped by Keyshawn Hall with 30 points. Elyjah Freeman came off the bench to score 13 points and Kevin Overton 10 for the Tigers.
Arkansas will return to Bud Walton Arena on Wednesday night to host South Carolina (10-6, 1-2) at 8 p.m. and televised on the SEC Network.