Despite an impressive performance from freshman guard Anthony Black, No. 13 Arkansas dropped its second SEC road game in as many tries at No. 22 Auburn on Saturday.
The Tigers, who entered the weekend coming off a loss at Georgia on Wednesday, used 18 points from Arkansas native Allen Flanigan and 19 from Wendell Green to beat the Razorbacks 72-59 in Auburn, Ala. Arkansas falls to 12-3 overall and 1-2 in league play.
Green got the Tigers off to a strong start by scoring their first seven points.
He opened the game with a four-point play, then more than one minute later knocked down a right-wing three-pointer. Both were made against Razorbacks guard Davonte Davis, who sat much of the first half with a pair of fouls and finished the night with two points.
Auburn took a 10-point first-half lead on a three-pointer from Flanigan, then a 4-0 run in the final 1:37 of the half pushed its lead to 36-25 at halftime.
Behind a valiant effort from Black, the Razorbacks pulled to within nine points on three occasions after halftime. Wichita State transfer Ricky Council had a chance to bring Arkansas within six points with a left-wing three-point attempt with 1:02 remaining but missed.
Council again struggled shooting the basketball against an SEC team. He finished with 14 points on 5 of 15 from the floor after entering the game 8 of 22 inside the arc and 3 of 12 beyond it against LSU and Missouri.
Black was the Razorbacks’ lone source of offense for most of the night. The freshman added a game-high 23 points although he was forced to sit the final 9:08 of the first half after being whistled for two fouls.
Saturday’s game was his first with 20-plus points since he contributed 26 in Arkansas’ loss to then-No. 10 Creighton at the Maui Invitational in November.
Black added 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 turnovers in 30 minutes.
The Razorbacks shot 33.9% for the game and 2 of 16 from three-point range. The two made three-pointers match a season low (Fordham).
Black was 13 of 16 at the free throw line and the rest of the team was 6 of 16. Jalen Graham was 1 of 5 at the line and Makhi Mitchell 0 of 3.
The Tigers, who led by as many as 15 points, got 10 points, 10 rebounds and 6 blocks from forward Johni Broome. Jaylin Williams pitched in nine points, as well.
The Razorbacks return to play Wednesday against Alabama. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. on ESPN2 from Bud Walton Arena.