Arkansas @ Auburn preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 27, 2018 ) Auburn 82, Arkansas 91

Auburn looks to build off one of its best defensive performances in league play when it returns home to meet fading Arkansas on Wednesday night in a critical SEC contest. The Tigers rebounded from losses to LSU and Ole Miss to take care of business at last-place Vanderbilt on Saturday, limiting the Commodores to 33.3 percent shooting and forcing 19 turnovers in a 64-53 victory.

“It was just our effort, our energy, our defense,” Auburn senior guard Malik Dunbar told reporters after posting 13 points, five rebounds and two blocks Saturday. “We really stayed with it. I feel like we came together through our losses. We fought through it, and we picked up a good win. We needed this win.” Coach Bruce Pearl, whose team is 4-5 since a 13-3 start, said the Tigers “showed progress” Saturday and they will need to raise their level of play against a hungry Arkansas squad that has dropped three straight. The Razorbacks coughed up a six-point halftime lead by shooting 28.6 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes en route to a 77-67 setback versus Mississippi State at home on Saturday after losing by a point at Missouri earlier in the week. “This locker room is definitely going to be able to recover,” Arkansas sophomore guard Mason Jones told the Democrat-Gazette after scoring a career-high 30 points Saturday. “. … To be on a losing streak this late in the year, it’s kind of hard, but our guys are fighters. … We know we’re chasing for something, so as long as we keep a positive attitude we’re going to be good.”

TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network

ABOUT ARKANSAS (14-11, 5-7 SEC): Jones drained 5-of-11 from 3-point range Saturday and raised his scoring average to 14.4, second on the team behind 6-11 sophomore forward Daniel Gafford (16.6). Gafford managed just eight points in two of the last three games, but has been the go-to player all season while leading the Razorbacks in rebounding (8.8), blocks (2.0) and connecting on a SEC-best 66.1 percent from the field. Freshman guard Isaiah Joe ranks third on the team in scoring (13.8) and is the top long range threat, shooting 43.3 percent from behind the arc with an SEC-most 87 made 3-pointers.

ABOUT AUBURN (17-8, 6-6): Senior guard Bryce Brown is second in the league in made 3-pointers (85) and tops the team in scoring (16.2), but is just 10-of-33 from the field with zero assists in the last three games. Junior guard Jared Harper scores 15.4 per game and ranks second in the league in assists (6.2) after handing out eight in the victory at Vanderbilt while sophomore Chuma Okeke averages 11.2 points and a team-best 6.8 rebounds - 9.8 in the last four. Dunbar’s 13 points and five rebounds Saturday were his highest totals since scoring 10 and pulling down seven boards against Kentucky on Jan. 9.

TIP-INS

1. Arkansas junior G Jalen Harris is fourth in the league in assists (5.6) after dishing out 12 in the last two contests.

2. Auburn senior F Horace Spencer has 154 career blocks, one behind the late Korvotney Barber (2005-2009) for third in school history.

3. The Razorbacks are last in the league in free-throw percentage (66.3) despite connecting on 63-of-84 the last four games.

PREDICTION: Auburn 78, Arkansas 70