5 Observations from Arkansas' 79-68 win at Auburn

Arkansas forward Trey Thompson (1) shoots against Auburn during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017, in Auburn, Ala. (AP Photo/Todd J. Van Emst)

Five observations, with video, from Arkansas fifth straight SEC win and sixth conference road victory.

— Dusty does it again

Second-half scoring outburst have become commonplace for Dusty Hannahs in February.

He’s scored in double figures after halftime in five of eight games: 12 against Alabama, 21 against Vanderbilt, 14 at LSU, 12 at South Carolina and 10 at Auburn.

Arkansas won all of those games save for Vandy. The final three were won in no small part because of Hannahs’ ability to get hot and play Pop-A-Shot for a minute or 2.

That’s what happened in Auburn. Arkansas’ double-digit lead had been cut to 6 and Mike Anderson decided to burn a timeout with an offensive possession not going anywhere and 11 ticks left on the shot clock.

The A-TO play wasn’t anything special, perhaps by design or maybe because of a failure to execute. But it didn’t matter. Hannahs took matters into his own hands and scored, the first of 3 baskets and 8 points in the span of 1:16.


He single-handedly pushed the lead back to 11 and restored a sense of control for the Hogs.

Hannahs finished with 18 on 7 of 14 shooting. He knocked down 3 of 7 3-pointers, continuing his encouraging recent uptick in attempts. Aside from the 1 of 2 outlier performance against Ole Miss last weekend, Hannahs has attempted 6.7 3s per game in February, a notable jump from the 5 he was getting up each game through the first 3 months of the season.

Hannahs has never been shy about letting it fly, but this new, extra-aggressive approach has taken one of the most dangerous offensive pieces in the SEC to another level. He’s playing with more freedom and his efficiency is way up: Even with the added volume, he’s shooting a sizzling 49 percent from 3 in February, light years beyond the 34.3 percent he was shooting entering the month.

He’s gotten over the lackluster performances as a starter that nagged him early in the year, averaging 16.5 points as a starter the last 6 games.

His impact is felt beyond just his numbers. Arkansas’ offense is obviously much more dangerous when he is on the court, with defenders latched onto him 25 feet from the basket and opposing coaches panicking on the rare occasion they’re not.


Watch the Auburn bench.

Hannahs is playing the best basketball of his collegiate career as it winds down. The second-half explosions have been vital in the five-game winning streak and he shows no signs of slowing down.

As he said earlier this year: “These buckets are coming.”

— Thompson fills Kingsley’s shoes

Saturday had to be frustrating for Moses Kingsley.

He couldn’t stay on the court. He played just 3 first-half minutes after picking up 2 quick fouls. Foul No. 3 came less than 4 minutes into the second half and sent him back to the bench. He subbed back in with 10:35 left and got hit with No. 4 about 2 minutes later.

He played the final 5:44, much of it alongside Trey Thompson in the extra-big lineup that has been oft-used of late. The Hogs went on a 12-3 run to put the game away with those 2 on the court and Kingsley played well given the circumstances, finishing with 8 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks in 15 minutes, the only time in the last 2 years he’s played less than 20.

Arkansas was in the lead when he returned for the stretch run because it managed his absence well, a credit to the play of Thompson and Arlando Cook (more on him in a bit), especially, with Dustin Thomas and Adrio Bailey also pitching in to pick up the slack with the league’s best rim protector sitting in his warmups for most of the game.

Thompson put together his fourth straight stellar performance, finishing with 6 points (3-4 FG), a career-high 11 rebounds, a game-high 3 assists, a block, a steal and a turnover in a career-high 29 minutes.

Arkansas outscored Auburn 61-44 with Thompson on the court. That +17 margin was the best on the team, which has become a thing. He’s led the team in that department in each of the last 4 games, which coincides with a bump up in playing time. The Razorbacks are +75 with him on the court the last 2 weeks and he’s averaged 22 minutes after only hitting the 20-minute mark once in the first 25 games.

He’s averaging 5.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1 block since his role has increased. The assists are getting the most attention, for good reason. The backdoor cuts have become contagious for Arkansas guards with Thompson in the lineup. Get him the ball at either elbow or beyond the arc and watch his teammates whir around him with added gusto, knowing they can get an easy layup.


It’s amazing what a motion offense can look like when there is smart motion and skilled passing.

Thompson’s 34 assists in SEC play lead the team, besting second-place Anton Beard by 2. But there is a wide gulf when taking into account Thompson’s playing time and touches compared to the guards on the team.

Thompson’s team-best assist percentage is 19.2, with Beard and Daryl Macon sitting well behind at 16.4. To put it in perspective, Kentucky’s De’Aaron Fox (30.2) and Florida’s Kasey Hill (31.1) are arguably the SEC’s 2 best point guards and have assist percentages nearly double those of Arkansas’ best guards.

Thompson’s passing is invaluable, which is why the Hogs average 130.6 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor, a massive number that ranks second among rotation players (Manny Watkins, 131.7) and is noticeably better than Kingsley’s 110.6.

Thompson is averaging a team-best 4.8 assists per 40 minutes, a full assist more than Beard. Thompson’s playmaking has become more pronounced with more minutes: He’s averaging 6.8 (!) per 40 the last 4 games.

He’s easily the best passer on the team, is the second-best rebounder and shot blocker on the roster, finishes at a high level and is looking for his shot more the last few games thanks to the confidence boost he’s received from the added time and production.

Thompson is the most improved player on the team and it really isn’t all that close. He’s essentially played starters minutes the last 2 weeks and has performed like one.

— Cook provides spark

Thompson’s recent emergence has cut down on the need for Arlando Cook, Dustin Thomas and Adrio Bailey, not the worst thing in the world given the inconsistent production Mike Anderson has gotten from his 4s this year.

But the Hogs had to call on their depth with Kingsley mired in foul trouble. Thomas has played well of late, but he too had foul issues, picking up 4 which limited to 13 minutes.

Enter Arlando Cook. The junior averaged just 4.8 minutes per game in Arkansas’ previous 5 outings, time he spent watching Bailey earn his first starts while he slid to fifth-big status for a while. The decrease in minutes was warranted: Cook hadn’t been as effective as Thomas and Thompson’s play ate into the minutes for the other bigs.

But Arkansas needed Cook on Saturday and he delivered to the tune of 8 points (3-3 FG, 2-2 FT), 4 rebounds and a block in 19 minutes, the most he’d played since Jan. 21.

Most importantly, he played with energy, displaying the motor that is arguably his best trait.


He sprints back in time to block Danjel Purifoy’s shot in the paint, starts the break, gives it up and continues running the floor, hard work he gets rewarded for in the form of a trip to the line.

Arkansas doesn’t survive Kingsley’s foul trouble without Cook stepping up and being ready to play after nearly 3 weeks of being on the fringe of the rotation.

— Barford embracing true nature

Jaylen Barford is not really a point guard.

Sure, he is a primary ballhandler who can occasionally set the table for his teammates and generate open looks for others. But that type of stuff doesn’t seem come very naturally to him and hasn’t happened with a great deal of consistency this year.

He was looked at through the lens of a lead guard early in the season, a weight that perhaps weighed on him as he struggled to adapt to Division I ball.

Gradually, he started to look for his shot more, evidenced by the first-half performances at Tennessee and Kentucky. By late January, he was comfortable enough to start embracing his true nature as a certified bucket-getter. Remember, this is the same player who led the nation in junior college scoring a year ago.

He scored a game-high 20 on Saturday, his fourth showing of at least 20 points in the last 9 games.

He’s seemingly always looking to push the pace and it feels like he’s shooting 100 percent on forays to the rim in transition.


He may be the best low-post scorer on the team.


He owes Dirk Nowitzki royalties for that second move.

Barford has been a different player in Arkansas’ last 11 games, averaging 15.7 points on 12.5 shots per game. He’s averaged 14.6 shooting possessions (field goal attempts + 0.5 per free throw attempt) during the stretch, easily the most on the team.

Those are big leaps from his production and usage the first 17 games, when he averaged 10 points on 8.8 shots and 9.9 shooting possessions per game.

Barford has flipped a switch and become a big-time volume scorer the last few weeks. He’s a streaky shooter and his efficiency isn’t great as a result of that and the degree of difficulty a lot of his shots around the rim have. His .495 effective FG% is 8th among the 11 rotation players and his .527 true shooting % 9th), but those have risen to .512 and .554, respectively, the last 10 games, an acceptable number for the number of shots he’s getting up.

The point guard charade is largely over. He’s averaging just 2 assists the last 11 games, even with a 6-assist game against Vanderbilt and 4 each against Alabama and LSU. His 16.1 assist percentage is 4th on the team and he has 58 assists to 55 turnovers this year.

That isn’t to say he doesn’t have the potential to grow into a better distributor. He shows flashes that prove he has the requisite skills and will almost surely continue to develop that aspect of his game.

But he’s wired as a scorer and that’s how he’s playing. Don’t be surprised if the number of 20-point games continues to rise over the next few weeks.

— Hogs play solid man defense

Auburn has talent. That is apparent when watching the Tigers play.

It’s also obvious the talent is young. They make a lot of freshman mistakes and have been plagued by inconsistency this season.

Auburn shot 10 of 24 from 3-point range, a hot 41.4 percent. Neither the percentage or the number of attempts are surprising. The Tigers are among the best in the conference at getting up a lot of 3s and hitting a decent amount.

The Hogs lost both of their earlier SEC games when they surrendered 10 or more made 3-pointers (Mississippi State, Vanderbilt). But Auburn could get little else to work on Saturday.

Auburn spent most of the second half in the bonus and got to the line a decent amount, but only made 12 of 23. Meanwhile, Arkansas was 16 of 20.

The Tigers shot just 34 percent inside the arc, including a putrid 9 of 23 on layups. The youngsters didn’t do themselves any favors settling for some tough shots and also missed a few bunnies.

Of course, Arkansas’ defense deserves some credit, too. There was a reason a good chunk of those shots were contested.

Auburn did a good job puncturing an Arkansas zone defense that has been mostly solid since Anderson started using it more.

But Saturday was the best Arkansas’ man defense has looked in a while. A scheme that has been porous most of the year was encouragingly good at times. The Hogs played good on-ball defense, were active and held the Tigers to one, usually contested shot.

Of note, the Hogs dropped their big back several times against ball screens, a tactic they have rarely used this year but one designed to mitigate the need for help defense against the pick-and-roll and coax the offense into taking jumpers, hopefully of the 2-point variety.

The scheme can be effective, especially if the player guarding the ballhandler fights over the screen and stays attached, preventing an open 3. Auburn freshman Jared Harper hit at least 1 of his 3 triples against the look, but it also kept the Razorbacks from getting into help situations or mismatches that force the defense to scramble and lead to wide-open 3s.


Rather than hedge, blitz or switch the pick-and-roll, Thompson drops back. This prevents anyone from having to help on the roll man and the Tigers are forced into a contested look as a result.

Auburn’ suffered some self-inflicted damage with its inability to finish consistently and its misses at the line, but Arkansas’ 94.4 defensive rating was an encouraging sign, especially considering Kingsley was on the bench as much as he was.

Stray Thoughts

— Very poised performance by Daryl Macon. He had 13 points on 4-5 shooting, 2 of 3 from 3 and 3 of 4 free throws. Super efficient. Had 2 assists, including a nice find to a cutting Thompson for a layup. Macon, Barford and Hannahs combined for 51. They’re playing great together lately, which is huge

— Austin Wiley wasn’t great, but he looks like he’ll be a player. He’s obviously so young. Auburn is brimming with young talent.

— Rough week from an offensive standpoint for Kingsley. Averaged 9 points but shot just 5 of 20. But can’t fault his effort in the limited time against Auburn.

— Anton Beard was not good. Didn’t score, missing all 3 of his shots in 15 minutes, his season low excluding the South Carolina game where he only played 5 minutes because he was sick. Saturday, he finished with 2 assists, but was a bit of a ball-stopper on offense at times. Also fell asleep on defense and gave up an open 3, which is an issue he has had at times. This was his third scoreless outing in 6 games and he hasn’t been as much of a distributor as he was early in the year. The play of the other 4 guards have masked his struggles, but the Hogs need him to pick it up.

— The technical that Bruce Pearl got hit with was odd in the sense that coaches are outside the box all the time. But he should’ve known that he was risking it after getting the warning.

— Hogs did a great job on the glass, outrebounding Auburn 41-33. Arkansas grabbed 74.4 percent of available defensive rebounds, its second-best performance in SEC play, behind only win at Texas A&M when it pulled down a superb 78.1 percent.