1/8/23 Auburn Articles

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Instant Analysis: Tigers consistent play leads to comfortable win over Arkansas

Taylor Jones

~3 minutes

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After a poor offensive outing in Wednesday’s loss to Georgia, the No. 20 Auburn Tigers needed to find confidence and hoped it would be found within the walls of Neville Arena.

The Tigers were able to find consistent production in both halves Saturday against Arkansas, as they cruised to a 72-59 win over the No. 13 Razorbacks.

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Three Tigers ended the night in double-figures, led by Wendell Green Jr.’s 19 points and followed by Allen Flanigan’s 18 and Johni Broome’s 10-point night. Auburn scored 36 points in both halves, shooting 44% in the game.

Defensively, Auburn limited Arkansas’ hot-shooting offense to 34% from the field, and 13% from three-point range. In the second half, Auburn shut down most of Arkansas’ scoring by limiting Ricky Council IV to just five points in the half. The Razorbacks relied heavily on freshman Anthony Black, who scored 18 of Arkansas’ 34 second-half points.

The Tigers got solid production from their bench in the game, as they added 27 points from nonstarters. Outside of Flanigan’s impressive game, K.D. Johnson added four points, while Tre Donaldson and Dylan Cardwell added three and two points respectively.

Both offenses came out with all guns blazing through the first ten minutes of the first half, but none more than Auburn guard Wendell Green Jr. Green, who went 2-for-12 in Wednesday’s loss to Georgia, posted 10 points during the stretch. He reached that total by going 3-for-4 from the field, and 2-of-3 from the three-point territory as Auburn led 24-17. Green would end the half with 12 points, which matched his average per game.

Both teams would close the half at a much slower pace. The Tigers outscored Arkansas 11-8 over the final ten minutes of the first half to take a 36-25 lead into the locker room. The Razorbacks ended the half without a field goal over the final 2:13 and ended the half by just shooting 33%.

Auburn also went through a stretch during the half where they did not record a point. Tre Donaldson connected on a three-pointer with 3:09 remaining in the first half to give Auburn the 31-24 lead. The basket snapped a field goal dry spell that lasted 7:43. Auburn shot 41% from the field in the first half, and scored 15 points off of eight Arkansas turnovers. The Tigers also got 14 points from their bench in the half, led by Allen Flanigan’s nine-point showing.

Auburn’s next game will take place on Tuesday in Oxford, Mississippi, as they face the Ole Miss Rebels for an 8 p.m. CT tipoff from the Pavillion at Ole Miss.

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Green, Flanigan spark Auburn victory over No. 13 Arkansas

Mark Murphy

6–7 minutes

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AUBURN, Alabama–It was an All-Orange game for Auburn fans at Neville Arena, but it was Green Day on the court with the Tigers’ junior point guard leading his team to a 72-59 SEC basketball victory over the 13th-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks. The Tigers also got a strong defensive effort, holding the visitors to 33.9 percent shooting.

Wendell Green scored a team-high 19 points as he hit 5-8 field goals, 2-4 threes and 7-9 free throws. The junior point guard dished out five assists, had three steals and pulled in three rebounds.

Green helped the Tigers finish plus 19 in points off of turnovers as the home team had just eight, matching their season-best, to 14 for the visitors. Green led all players in plus/minus with the Tigers outscoring the Razorbacks by 15 points when he was on the court.

Allen Flanigan came off the bench to score 18 points. The senior four hit 5-9 field goals, 3-5 treys and 5-6 free throws while adding eight rebounds. "It was huge to me because I haven't beaten the Hogs since I was at Auburn," the senior forward said.

With the win the Tigers improved to 2-1 in the SEC and 12-3 overall. The Razorbacks dropped to 12-3 overall and 1-2 in the league. It was Auburn's 27th victory at Neville Arena and ended a three-game losing streak in games vs. the Razorbacks.

"We needed that," Coach Bruce Pearl said. "Could you have expected that? I don't know, but they really showed me something tonight–the bounce back, the quick turnaround. We played great from the start. We got Wendell some really good looks against the Arkansas defense and he got us off to a great start. 

"It was wonderful to see Allen Flanigan have one of the best games of his career in an important game," Pearl added. "It was probably one of the top four or five wins I have had at home in Neville Arena so it was a big one, a real important win, and it was start to finish. I am very proud of the kids...It was just a great team effort."

Johni Broome’s three-straight double-doubles are the first for an Auburn player since Austin Wiley did it against LSU, Alabama and Missouri during the 2019-20 season. The first-year Tiger extended his double-digit scoring streak to nine-straight games.

The Tigers opened the game with a four-point play by Green and led the entire first half. Pearl said in his coaching career he can't remember a game when that happened for one of his teams.

At the break Auburn was on top 36-25 with Green scoring a dozen points and Flanigan adding nine points.

Auburn spent almost the entire first half in a zone defense, something that continued the rest of the night, which is highly unusual for a Pearl coached team.

Asked if he ever remembered the Tigers playing that much zone while at Auburn, Flanigan said, "That was a lot, a lot of zone that we played tonight so that's probably the first time I've ever been here and played zone pretty much the whole game."

Commenting on the zone, Pearl said, 

“Arkansas is better from two than three. "That little flat 2-3 zone really bothered them and they struggled with it. They are going to see it all year long and our guys did a great job with it. We have it in the package and I think it also helped our man defense, because in the zone, you have a gap and you have to build a wall. When guys are in zone, they get that feeling that when you play a team that is better from the two than the three and drive it like Arkansas does, you have to play your man like that also.”

Arkansas made just 8-24 field goals (33.3 percent) in the first 20 minutes and was 1-6 on three-pointers to help Auburn build its lead. The Razorbacks really struggled at the foul line, making 8-17 in the first half.

The Tigers hit 12-29 field goals in the first half for 41.4 percent and made 5-11 three-pointers plus 7-9 free throws.

Arkansas was plus six in first half rebounding, but Auburn negated that by having just four turnovers, four less than the Razorbacks, and outscoring Arkansas 15-4 in points off of turnovers.

Wendell Green drives vs. the Razorbacks. (Photo: Jason Caldwell, 247Sports)

Auburn outscored Arkansas 36-34 in the second half by shooting 46.2 percent from the field to 34.4 percent for the visitors. The Tigers built the lead to as many as 15 points in the second half at 42-27. 

For the game Arkansas made just 33.9 percent of its field goals while Auburn made 43.6 percent. The shooting difference allowed Auburn to overcome being out-rebounded 45-32.

Arkansas made 19-56 field goals, 2-16 threes and 19-32 free throws. Auburn made 24-55 field goals, 7-21 threes and 17-22 free throws.

"We just made sure everybody was communicating on defense," Flanigan said on Auburn's performance after a disappointing loss at Georgia.

Pearl said his team's ball-handling was a key to success vs. an Arkansas team that thrives on transition points off of live ball turnovers.  “The key to the game was not turning it over,” Pearl said. “The key to the game was understanding, let’s get a shot. The other thing we emphasized was, just take open shots.”

Worth Noting, Part 1: Auburn outscored the Razorbacks 27-8 in bench points.

Worth Noting, Part 2: Despite being out-rebounded by 13, the Tigers actually outscored Arkansas 11-8 in second-chance points.

Stat of the Game: Auburn scored 25 points off of turnovers to just six for the Razorbacks.

Box Score

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Arkansas vs. Auburn: Final statistics . . .

 

Name	POS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	ST	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
ANTHONY BLACK	G	30	5-11	0-3	13-16	3	7	4	1	1	4	4	23
RICKY COUNCIL IV	G	37	5-15	2-6	2-2	1	2	1	0	1	3	1	14
DAVONTE DAVIS	G	24	1-5	0-2	0-0	0	2	2	0	0	1	2	2
MAKHI MITCHELL	F	22	3-4	0-0	0-3	1	7	0	0	2	1	2	6
JORDAN WALSH	F	32	2-10	0-3	2-4	4	10	2	0	1	2	4	6
BARRY DUNNING JR.	G	1	0-1	0-1	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
DERRIAN FORD	G	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
JALEN GRAHAM	F	12	2-6	0-0	1-5	3	6	0	0	0	1	2	5
KAMANI JOHNSON	F	20	0-2	0-0	1-2	3	5	0	2	0	0	3	1
MAKHEL MITCHELL	F	7	1-1	0-0	0-0	0	2	0	0	0	1	1	2
JOSEPH PINION	G	14	0-1	0-1	0-0	0	1	0	1	0	0	2	0
Total			19-56	2-16	19-32	17	45	9	4	5	14	21	59
Auburn Name POS MIN FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OREB REB AST ST BLK TO PF PTS JOHNI BROOME F 29 5-12 0-1 0-1 1 10 2 1 6 2 3 10 WENDELL GREEN JR. G 29 5-8 2-4 7-9 0 3 5 3 0 3 1 19 ZEP JASPER G 20 2-5 0-2 1-2 0 1 1 1 0 0 4 5 CHRIS MOORE F 21 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 4 0 0 0 1 4 2 JAYLIN WILLIAMS F 20 2-4 1-2 4-4 1 1 2 0 1 0 3 9 DYLAN CARDWELL C 11 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 2 TRE DONALDSON G 11 1-3 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 ALLEN FLANIGAN G 33 5-9 3-6 5-6 1 8 2 2 0 1 0 18 K.D. JOHNSON G 20 2-10 0-4 0-0 1 2 1 1 0 0 1 4 YOHAN TRAORE F 6 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 Total   24-55 7-21 17-22 7 32 13 8 7 8 20 72

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Gallery: Auburn students return as Tigers take on Arkansas

Lance Dawe

~2 minutes

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The Jungle is back.

Following winter break, the Auburn Tigers return to action in their third SEC game of the season - and easily the biggest matchup thus far.

No. 13 Arkansas rolls into town following a close win over No. 20 Missouri and a desire to rise back into the top four of the SEC standings. Auburn, on the other hand, is looking to avoid a skid after losing to Georgia on the road earlier in the week - the No. 22 Tigers are 3-3 in their last six contests.

Now that break is over, the Auburn students are back and excited for another incredible game inside Neville Arena. The Jungle was out in full force and ready for the game hours before the gates even opened.

Here's a gallery of some of the Auburn faithful as we roll closer to tip between Auburn and Arkansas.

Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

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Tigers of the Game: Green, Flanigan stepped up when they were needed most

Taylor Jones

~3 minutes

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To say that No. 20 Auburn‘s win over No. 13 Arkansas was much-needed would be an understatement.

Following a too-close-for-comfort win over Florida to open the SEC schedule on Dec. 28, and a disappointing loss to Georgia on Wednesday, Auburn needed a stellar effort to earn a win over the Razorbacks, who feature a roster filled with NBA talent. Using the crowd at Neville Arena as motivation, Auburn took care of Arkansas, 72-59.

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Auburn earned the win thanks to strong efforts from a number of contributors. After a frustrating game against Georgia, Wendell Green Jr. rallied to lead Auburn in points. Johni Broome continued his consistent play by scoring 10 points and securing 10 rebounds for his third-straight double-double. Jaylin Williams again did his share by scoring nine points, and Allen Flanigan led all bench players with 18 points.

With so many available options, who did the staff at Auburn Wire choose as their “Tigers of the Game”?

It was a tough decision, but here is a look at who writers Taylor Jones, J.D. McCarthy, and River Wells chose as their “Tiger of the Game” following Auburn’s impressive win over Arkansas.

Michael Chang/Getty Images

Flanigan mentioned the sour taste in his mouth that his home-state program left during the recruiting process before the game, and he was sure to show them why they missed out. Off the bench, Flanigan tied his season-high in points with 18. He also added eight rebounds to his stat line.

John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

After going 2-for-12 from the field in Auburn’s loss to Georgia, Green redeemed himself by leading the team in scoring with 19 in Auburn’s win over Arkansas. He has now reached double-figures 11 times this season.

John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

Auburn fans knew right away that Green was going to have an impressive night. Green scored 12 of his 19 points in the first half of Auburn’s win over Arkansas. He came out of the gate with a hot hand, as he scored Auburn’s first seven points of the game.

The Montgomery Advertiser/ Jake Crandall

Here is a look at how many Tigers have earned a “Tiger of the Game” vote this season:

Johni Broome	16
Wendell Green Jr.	9
Jaylin Williams	8
Allen Flanigan	3
K.D. Johnson	2
Chris Moore	2
Tre Donaldson	1