FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas opened SEC play on Saturday, but No. 25 Auburn provided a rude awakening to the Hogs with an 83-51 one-sided loss in Bud Walton Arena.
Arkansas (9-5, 0-1) entered the game having won its last three games and seemingly with some momentum, but that quickly vanished as the more physical Tigers routed the Hogs. Auburn only led 37-30 at halftime, but outscored the Razorbacks 46-21 in the final 20 minutes. Eric Musselman talked about the loss afterward.
"I thought the second half is not anything that resembles anything we have done the last four years," Musselman said. "To get beat, 46-21 (second half) at home in front of a great crowd. I am extremely disappointed. Disappointed in our ball movement. We had 165 passes, our goal is always 200. Well short of that. I could go on and on. We had seven offensive rebounds, four of them by one player. The rest of the team had three offensive rebounds."
The Razorbacks last held the lead 27-26 with 4:55 remaining in the first half. The loss was the most lopsided ever for Arkansas in Bud Walton Arena.
"I thought we played a decent first half but if you look at the plus/minuses- just a team that did not execute on either side of the ball," Musselman said. "And quite frankly a team that did not compete hard enough in the second half at all. We have people driving from all over. We have people commit to come and watch this team play. They spend their money to watch our team play. And tonight was a huge disappointment for all of them. And just as importantly for all of us."
Auburn shot 49% from the field compared to 31 for Arkansas. Both teams made seven 3-pointers, but it took the Razorbacks seven more attempts (24) than Auburn. Arkansas only made 53% (8-15) of its free throws. Auburn won the battle of the boards 46-32. Musselman was asked if his team settled for 3-pointers too much particularly early on?
"Yeah, I mean we talked about that over and over that they're a team that will put you on the foul line," Musselman said. "They do give up rim shots, although they are great rim protectors. Again, I thought we played pretty good, decent, OK, whatever word you want to say, survived the first 16 minutes. And then after that, it was... I mean, I've coached a long time. I don't remember a home game like this ever since I've been coaching, whether it's the minor leagues or whatever. We had people that paid good money to come to the game. We had people that drove far. It's basically a filled-up building."
Keyon Menifield topped the Hogs in scoring with 14 points while adding three rebounds and four assists. Trevon Brazile added 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Tramon Mark added 10 points and five rebounds.
"We need to play with way more sense of urgency," Musselman said. "There’s no doubt about that. And guys that got in even at the end of the game, we didn’t execute on either side of the ball. So it was a collective game that was not played or executed. It doesn’t resemble anything we’ve built over the last four years unfortunately."
When Musselman was informed this was Arkansas' most lopsided loss in Bud Walton history he was disappointed.
"That’s a pretty bold statement," Musselman said. "And it’s factual. I don’t know what it means to that locker room. I know what it means to me. I know the history of this program. I have incredible respect for everybody that’s coached here, everybody that’s played here. That’s a ‘wow’ statement."
Auburn's bench outscored Arkansas' reserves 46-9. In paint points, Auburn topped the Razorbacks 48-18.
Auburn (12-2, 1-0) was led in scoring by Chad Baker-Mazara with 16 points. Johni Broome followed with 14 points and eight rebounds. Both Jaylin Williams and Tre Donaldson finished with 11 points. Donaldson also added seven boards.
Arkansas will be at Georgia on Wednesday night for an 8 p.m. tip on ESPNU. Georgia (11-3, 1-0) opened SEC play Saturday with a 75-68 victory over Missouri.
