In the lane

Auburn burns UA on threes

Auburn's Bryce Brown (2) motions for silence after hitting a three-point basket during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Arkansas, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016, in Fayetteville, Ark. Auburn beat Arkansas 90-86. (AP Photo/Samantha Baker)

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas' three-point defense has not been stellar this season, but it hit a new low in Wednesday's 90-86 loss to Auburn on Wednesday night.

Led by Bryce Brown's 9-for-14 shooting from beyond the arc, the Tigers made 15 of 23 three-pointers, including two in a row from deep in the left corner by TJ Lang in the closing moments.

"We just kept plugging, kept taking the shots we were getting -- they were good shots -- and today they just happened to fall," said Lang, who hit 5 of 6 from three-point range and scored 17 points.

The Tigers entered the game having made 35 of 152 three-pointers (23 percent) in their past five games.

"They are a team that had not been shooting the ball all that well, but they shot the ball unbelievably tonight," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. "Part of that was them, and we let them get into a nice rhythm and it showed in the first half."

The Tigers made 9 of 15 three-pointers (60 percent) in the first half, then improved on that by making 6 of 8 in the second half.

"Arkansas will rally to the ball, and occasionally they came off and we knocked it down," Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl said.

"We got in early today, got up a lot of shots, and we had a very good walk-through," said Brown, whose nine three-pointers tied a Walton Arena record for an opponent first accomplished by James Southerland of Syracuse in 2012.

Brown finished with a game-high 27 points, all on three-pointers.

Stripe woes

Arkansas' 19 of 31 free-throw shooting (61.3 percent) was lowlighted by Moses Kingsley's 6 of 14 performance.

"That's the difference in the game," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. "I mean, you've got to make your free throws.

"Our margin for error is very slim. When you don't get up to the free-throw line and knock those down to keep them at bay, then obviously it allows them to either stay in the game or put themselves in position to win it. They took advantage of that."

Kingsley had seven two-shot opportunities and made both free throws only once. He missed both shots twice.

"Recently, I've just been off. I don't know why," Kingsley said. "I just have to keep shooting them, and they'll come back."

Anton Beard went 2 of 4 from the line, and Jabril Durham was 6 of 8. Manny Watkins and Dusty Hannahs combined to go 5 of 5.

Board edge

Auburn won the rebounding battle by a 35-34 margin to become the third SEC opponent in a row and the eighth in 13 games to outrebound the Hogs. Auburn had lost the rebounding margin in its past four games by a combined 32 rebounds.

The Tigers' most critical rebound came on the offensive end, when Jordon Granger grabbed a missed free throw by Tyler Harris and passed quickly to Bryce Brown, who sank a three-pointer to pull Auburn within 71-67 with 7:23 left in the game.

Top aide

Arkansas point guard Jabril Durham handed out 10 assists, his highest total since dishing out 12 in Arkansas' 82-68 victory over Mississippi State on Jan. 9. Durham had eight assists in the first half and two in the second half. The senior also went 2 of 3 from three-point range, his first game with multiple threes since Feb. 3 at Florida and his third of the season.

Throwing down

Two of the most crowd-pleasing plays came courtesy of passes from Jabril Durham. Moses Kingsley was the recipient of a Durham alley-oop lob after Trey Thompson's steal, his dunk giving Arkansas a 33-32 lead at the 8:08 mark of the first half. Moments later, Thompson was on the receiving end, racing down the left baseline and taking a Durham pass near the rim to flush it home for a 38-36 Arkansas lead.

Series notes

Arkansas had its eight-game winning streak over the Tigers snapped, and its lead in the series is now 32-17. The Razorbacks had won five in a row over Auburn at Walton Arena, dating back to a 73-51 loss Jan. 24, 2009.

Mike Anderson's career record against the Tigers fell to 6-1.

Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl improved to 3-0 at Walton Arena. He was 2-0 against the Razorbacks here while at Tennessee. Arkansas beat Tennessee 68-65 at home during Pearl's final season with the Volunteers, but Pearl missed the game while serving an eight-game suspension for NCAA rules violations and misleading investigators.

For starters

Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson shook up his starting lineup as promised, giving sophomore guard Anton Beard his first start of the year and senior Willy Kouassi his second start. Kouassi joined guard Dusty Hannahs (Texas Tech) as Razorbacks who made starts against their former team this season.

That duo was joined by guards Anthlon Bell, Jabril Durham and center Moses Kingsley. Durham has started all 26 games, while Kingsley has made 25 starts and Bell 24.

Back up

Auburn forward Tyler Harris, who had struggled with back spasms that led to 1 of 18 shooting in his past two games, looked to be in fine shape against the Razorbacks.

Harris opened the scoring with a driving layup 25 seconds into the game and added a three-point play a couple of minutes later. The 6-10 senior was 5 of 6m from the floor for 13 points in the first half. He finished 8 of 11 for 19 points.

Sports on 02/18/2016