FAYETTEVILLE -- Auburn was supposed to be the cure for Arkansas' case of the Mississippi Blues.
Instead, the Tigers inflicted perhaps the most painful loss the Razorbacks have suffered this season.
Auburn brought eight scholarship players and a seven-game losing streak into Walton Arena on Wednesday night and left with a 90-86 victory before an announced crowd of 8,102.
It was the third consecutive loss for the Razorbacks (12-14, 5-8), who were routed at Mississippi State 78-46 and at Ole Miss 76-60 last week.
Auburn (10-15, 4-9) broke an eight-game losing streak to the Razorbacks and won at Arkansas for the first time since 2009 and for the fourth time in 20 tries.
"It's disappointing," said Arkansas center Moses Kingsley, who had 20 points and 10 rebounds. "After losing those two games on the road, coming back home and playing like this is unacceptable."
The Razorbacks took a 78-74 lead on Anthlon Bell's jump shot with 4:31 left, but Auburn outscored Arkansas 16-8 in the final 4:08.
"I thought our guys played hard, I just didn't think we played smart," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. "So from that standpoint, I'm very, very disappointed, because we didn't play with that fighting Razorback mentality.
"You leave everything out on the floor. I just didn't think we did that, especially on defense."
Freshman guard Bryce Brown led Auburn with 27 points and hit 9 of 14 three-pointers. Senior forward Tyler Harris -- slowed by back spasms in recent games -- had 19 points, and sophomore guard TJ Lang had 17 points.
Tigers senior Cinmeon Bowers, 6-7 and 250 pounds, played some point guard because the team has lost four guards to injuries and a suspension. He had 14 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists.
Jordan Granger had 7 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists, and Spencer Horace had 6 points, 5 rebounds and 7 blocked shots.
"We had six guys hit on a lot of cylinders tonight," Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl said. "That's why we were able to win."
Lang hit a three-point basket to put Auburn ahead 80-79 with 2:33 left. Bowers then drove and drew several defenders before passing to Lang and Brown for open three-pointers that pushed the Tigers' lead to 86-81 with 1:16 left.
Arkansas senior guard Jabril Durham blamed himself for Lang's three-pointer with the Razorbacks trailing by a point.
"I made some bonehead mistakes at the end gambling when [Lang] made that three," said Durham, who had 12 points and 10 assists. "I never should have gone for the steal. I should have just stayed solid.
"That's my fault on the defensive end, because we were right where we wanted to be there. We just made bonehead decisions."
Auburn, which came into the game shooting 35.8 percent in SEC play, shot 61.1 percent (33 of 54), including 65.2 percent (15 of 23) on three-pointers.
"Disappointed in our defense, I really was," Anderson said. "At the end, we made some bad decisions of gambling as opposed to being solid on defense.
"We had those breakdowns, and they made us pay for it."
Arkansas trailed 87-84 and had a chance to tie it when Durham passed to an open Anton Beard, who missed a three-point attempt with 25 seconds left. Beard shot 0 of 5, including 0 of 4 on three-pointers.
"Anton had a great look at it," Anderson said. "You can't argue with that. He had a great look, and it went in and out.
"That's sometimes how the ball bounces, and it bounced that way tonight."
Arkansas outscored Auburn 15-2 over a 3:46 span, including two three-point baskets by Dusty Hannahs, to take a 61-52 lead with 13:55 left.
Pearl called timeout, and within two minutes the Tigers had cut their deficit to 63-60.
The Razorbacks again appeared ready to break Auburn when they moved ahead 71-64 with 7:48 left on two free throws by Beard, but Brown hit back-to-back three-pointers to pull the Tigers within 73-70.
"It hurts a lot because we had a chance to put the game away on multiple occasions," Durham said.
Brown's three-pointer that cut Arkansas' lead to 71-67 came after Harris missed two free throws, but the Tigers got the rebound to keep the possession alive.
"I think that was a big momentum changer for them," Anderson said.
Bell led the Razorbacks with 21 points, and Hannahs scored 18.
"It felt like everybody was having a great game," Durham said. "But we weren't getting any stops."
The Tigers won for the first time since Jan. 19, when they beat Alabama 83-77. They had lost the seven games since then by at least 10 points.
"To say our team needed this win would be an understatement," Pearl said. "One thing you could see is that our kids haven't quit."
Lang said the Tigers believe they're good enough to win.
"Our mindset has been that we have enough talent to win any game if we come out with amazing energy," Lang said. "We decided as a team we're going to keep the faith and keep plugging, and it just all came together tonight."
Anderson said the Tigers deserved credit for making the plays necessary to win.
"They looked like a team that played with a purpose, and they got the job done," Anderson said. "Bruce had his kids fighting."
Sports on 02/18/2016