FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas overcame a sluggish start to beat Auburn 56-53 Wednesday night at Bud Walton Arena.
The Razorbacks (15-5, 3-2 Southeastern Conference) improved to 15-0 at home this season, despite only hitting 14.8 percent of their field goal attempts in the first half.
Auburn led 22-19 at halftime.
Arkansas heated up after the intermission, making 15 of 27 field goal attempts in the second half, including 5 of 9 from beyond the arc. Rickey Scott’s three-point play with 6:53 remaining gave the Razorbacks the lead for good at 45-43.
BJ Young scored 11 points to lead Arkansas, while Rashad Madden and Julysses Nobles each added 10. Kenny Gabriel led Auburn (12-8, 2-4) with 13 points, but his 3-pointer at the buzzer air-balled out of bounds.
While the offense suffered an off-night, the Razorbacks’ pressure defense was in full-gear. Arkansas forced 21 Auburn turnovers, none bigger than Madden’s steal and outlet for a Young slam dunk to give the Hogs a 56-51 lead with 20.2 seconds remaining.
Arkansas will travel to Alabama on Saturday. The Crimson Tide lost 56-54 at South Carolina on Wednesday.
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- Arkansas has won 15 of its first 20 games despite playing the majority of the season with only nine scholarship players
- After making only 4 of 27 field goal attempts in the first half, Arkansas made 55.6 percent of its shots in the second half
- Freshman guard BJ Young led the Razorbacks with 11 points, marking the ninth time he has led the Razorbacks in scoring this season
- Senior forward Marvell Waithe did not play after suffering a calf injury in last Saturday’s win over Michigan
- Brandon Mitchell, a walk-on from the Razorbacks’ football team, did not play; he attempted to check into the game for defensive purposes late in the first half, but the clock ran out
- Fred Gulley, who told the Associated Press on Monday he planned to join Arkansas’ basketball team after transferring from Oklahoma State, was on the bench Wednesday
- Arkansas improved to 15-0 at Bud Walton Arena this season, its best start at the venue since an undefeated season there in 1997-98
- The win was Arkansas’ third straight over Auburn, having swept the Tigers in conference play last season
- Auburn fell to 2-17 all-time at Bud Walton Arena
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BJ Young leads all SEC freshmen with 14.7 points per game and has scored in double-figures 16 times this season
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“I said what I needed to say and they knew what I was talking about. Hopefully it wasn’t one of those deals where it was, ‘Rah-rah, let’s go.’ No, I think they did some in-depth thinking and said ‘Let’s turn this thing around.’” – Arkansas coach Mike Anderson on letting players make halftime adjustments
You can follow Matt Jones on Twitter @NWAMatt.
