Postgame Thoughts: Arkansas 91, Auburn 82

Arkansas beat Auburn 91-82 Tuesday Feb. 27, 2018 at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.

Gafford abuses the rim

— Fans keeping track of Arkansas' dunks ran out of Daniel Gafford cutouts Tuesday. He had one of those nights.

Plain and simple, Gafford straight up abused Auburn and the Bud Walton Arena rims. Gafford finished with a team-high 21 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks to match a career high. Seven of his 10 makes from the floor were dunks.

Gafford, who didn't start for the first time since Dec. 5 because of Senior Night, came in and dominated his first few minutes of each half. When he finally checked in in the fist half, he blocked three shots in his first two minutes.

He then worked out on the Tigers for two straight minutes to open the second half, scoring six points on a pair of dunks while also blocking a Bryce Brown shot.

Who knows if we'll ever see Daniel Gafford play again in Bud Walton Arena, but if this was his last showing at home, he left quite the impression. Gafford is one of just two players this season to finish with 20+ points, 10+ rebounds and seven blocks against a high-major opponent.

The other is Texas' Mo Bamba.

"Daniel stepped up big tonight," Daryl Macon said. "I think he's the best big man in the country. I haven't seen anyone better than him. Every time he's on the floor he goes all out."

Gafford also stepped out and knocked down a midrange jumper from the right short corner. Pack it up and head to the house if that's a shot he begins to hit more often.

Jones finding his groove

C.J. Jones has now strung together back-to-back strong shooting nights, and that is so vital for Arkansas.

The sophomore finished 5 of 7 and a perfect 3 of 3 from deep against Alabama over the weekend, then followed it up with two more 3s and a 3 of 5 night from the floor.

He is averaging 8.5 points over Arkansas' last four games, which includes a pair of 13-point efforts against Texas A&M and Alabama.

Jones misfired on his first shot of the night, one that he hesitated to let go on the initial catch. But C.J. didn't let it phase him, and he knocked home a pair of jumpers before halftime to give Arkansas it's first 50-point first half since the Ole Miss game on Jan. 20.

Big 3 show out

Daniel Gafford had arguably his best all-around game on Arkansas' Senior Night. Going in, we knew the Razorbacks would need several guys to have big nights to knock off a tough Auburn club and that's just what they got from Daryl Macon and Jaylen Barford. The usual.

The duo was spectacular in their final home game and both reached the 1,000 point mark in their own way. Macon hit the milestone with his fourth triple of the night early in the second half, and Barford with his patented stepback jumper.

Those two are a couple of the best scoring guards this program has ever seen, and that's saying a lot considering its history. They became the sixth and seventh players to reach the milestone in just two seasons. And there's still ball to be played.

Barford said beating Auburn on his Senior Night was personal, and Macon voiced that he didn't want to see Auburn cutting down the Bud Walton Arena nets. They came out guns blazing and combined for 13 of Arkansas' first 18 points. Barford struggled a bit with his shot early, making just 2 of his first 9, but settled in and was even able to get some easy points at the line.

Barford finished with 20 points and a career-high 10 rebounds. He did a great job rebounding the ball and was a big part in Arkansas, again, winning the rebounding battle. He said he knew he had five boards at the break and thought five more in the second half was very doable.

Macon was incredibly efficient in finishing with 16 points. He knocked down all four of his 3-point attempts and was a perfect 6 of 6 from the floor until the final few minutes when he had to force a shot. The growth in Macon's game has been remarkable to watch. Not only is he one of the league's best scorers, he's one of its best at getting others involved. He added six more assists in the win and, with 2:39 left, dumped a sweet pass to Gafford for his final dunk of the night.

For the night, Macon, Barford and Gafford combined for 57 points, 23 rebounds and 11 assists. Those numbers are absurd.

Gafford and Barford also became the first Razorbacks to record points + rebounds double-doubles in the same game since Todd Day and Oliver Miller back in 1991. Tuesday was a special night in more ways than one.

Playing for seeding

Arkansas is in the NCAA Tournament now. Lock it up.

Saturday's game at Missouri would be icing on the cake for the Razorbacks. A win over the Tigers would give Arkansas another Quadrant 1 win and another valuable road W.

There's no question Saturday is going to be a hostile environment, but Arkansas appears to be in great shape as far as playing under control away from home. And picking up big-time efforts from not just the primary guys, but its bench, has been huge. Saturday it was Adrio Bailey, Tuesday it was C.J. Jones and Arlando Cook, who scored a season-high seven points and was a team-best +22 in his run.

Arkansas has now won 6 of its last 7 and is playing very, very confidently. A win in Columbia could potentially vault Arkansas into talk for a 6-7 seed. I don't think that's unrealistic, especially if it has a good showing in St. Louis. A top 4 finish in the league is likely on the line, too, so buckle up.