Observations: Arkansas 88, Auburn 75

Down their leading scorer for disciplinary reasons, the Tigers got a lot from some — but not nearly enough from others — in a fourth straight loss.

(Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers)

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — While Arkansas’ leading scorer was on fire in his best game in a college uniform, Auburn’s leading scorer was on the bench in a sweatsuit.

Keyshawn Hall had 32 points the first time Auburn played Arkansas this season — a blowout for the Tigers over the Razorbacks. In a rematch that Arkansas won by 13 on Saturday night, he didn’t take a single shot or even play a single possession.

Hall was officially ruled out Friday night. Before the game, first-year Auburn head coach Steven Pearl said Hall would be “out indefinitely” after the senior forward “did not live up to the standard and expectations of our program this week.” This came in the wake of Hall not playing the final 12:38 of a Tuesday home loss to Vanderbilt.

“We’ve got to come together, and we’ve got to limit our distractions off the floor,” Pearl said Saturday night after Auburn’s 88-75 loss to Arkansas. “You know, we’ve got to stop being put in positions where we have to make decisions to discipline guys.

“If we can do that and really focus on basketball for a couple of weeks, this team’s shown that it has the ability to win big games.”

Auburn was unable to win a big game — its fourth consecutive loss in one of those — on Saturday at Arkansas, and it was impossible to ignore the impact of Hall’s absence.

Darius Acuff Jr., the elite 5-star freshman, tied a season-high with 31 points on 10-15 shooting. He went 7-10 from 3-point range and added seven assists. Billy Richmond, who started for Arkansas in the small forward spot that Hall usually occupies for Auburn, had 25 points on a vicious 12-14 from 2-point range.

Auburn had its own standout duo in this game, though. Point guard Tahaad Pettiford had his third straight 20-point game, giving the Tigers 29 with seven assists and a welcome 4-7 mark from deep after sustained struggles there. KeShawn Murphy, thanks to a monster first half, had a career-high 22 points and 12 rebounds at center.

The Tigers lost by 13 points in a game in which they didn’t have a player who averages 20. In fact, he’s only scored less than 13 in two games all season.

“Obviously, it’s gonna be hard for us to win games when Key’s not out there,” Pearl said.

Pearl declined to get into the specifics of what exactly happened with Hall this week. Whatever it was, he felt like it was enough to warrant a suspension at a time when Auburn could have used every weapon it had to hang with a top-five KenPom offense.

And the Tigers knew well ahead of tipoff Saturday night that they were going to be without Hall against the Razorbacks. They knew the challenge. They knew the stakes. They knew they needed more from pretty much everyone else who would play.

Pettiford and Murphy delivered. But, after Sebastian Williams-Adams scored on the first possession of the game, a Tiger outside of that duo did not hit a shot from the field until the 11:07 mark of the second half.

By then, Elyjah Freeman’s 3-pointer was cutting Arkansas’ lead down to 13. An ice-cold 2-14 shooting start to the second half from the Auburn offense turned what was still a very competitive game at the break into a comfortable Arkansas home win.

“Sebastian, KO (Kevin Overton), Elyjah — for those guys to go 6-28 — not gonna win when that happens,” Pearl said.

Auburn continued to fight, because that’s what this team does. A 19-6 surge made it a single-digit game not too long after Arkansas stretched its lead to 21. Pettiford hit shot after shot late to prevent the Razorbacks from getting close to that again.

But Auburn has felt plenty of frustration this season by having to constantly respond to what often ends up being too much adversity that it creates for itself.

That flaw hasn’t felt as pronounced as it did Saturday night, when effort was once again not nearly enough for an even thinner roster to get a good shot at another signature win.

“Thought our guys battled tonight,” Pearl said. “Obviously planned a shorter rotation. Heavy minutes for a lot of our guys. Thought they did a good job of putting out the effort that was required for us to have a chance. … Just weren’t able to get enough stop stop stay in the game and didn’t make enough easy, open ones as the game went on.”

Here are four Observations from Auburn’s 88-75 loss at Arkansas, along with the Rotation Charts, Nerd Stats and Quote of the Night.

(Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers)

Auburn needed more from others, especially to start the second half