Hogs get handled in the paint
FAYETTEVILLE — One set of stats more than any other served to symbolize No. 25 Auburn’s 83-51 rout of the Arkansas Razorbacks in both teams’ conference opener on Saturday.
The Tigers outrebounded Arkansas 46-32, including 11-7 on offensive rebounds, and won 13-4 on secondchance points.
“Arkansas was big last year, I mean huge,” Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl said. “They outrebounded us 18 and 13 the two times we played them, and particularly in the SEC Tournament. I thought tonight we were the more physical team and that was rebounds and points in the paint.”
Pearl noted Arkansas’ ability to drive, create in the paint and draw fouls and how the Tigers stifled that.
“Arkansas got the ball in there,” he said. “And Arkansas’ guys can score around the basket. They can. But they [were] just physical enough, and walling them up enough and using verticality and not giving Arkansas second shots.
“You know, Arkansas’ second-chance points? Four? I would imagine if you go back and look at stat sheets, that’s got to be a low for them this season.”
Indeed, the Razorbacks had a previous season low of 5 second-chance points in an 80-75 win over Duke on Nov. 29.
Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman also lamented a 48-18 deficit on points in the paint.
“Paint points come in two ways,” he said. “They come off dribble drives, and they come off postups. They hurt us in both.”
Devo shove
Arkansas guard Davonte Davis took a seat with 14:11 left in the game after referee K.B. Burdett caught him shoving Auburn’s Chad Mazara-Baker with the Hogs on offense.
The officials reviewed the tape and levied a flagrant 1 foul on Davis. Mazara-Baker made both free throws for the transgression to give Auburn a 48-32 lead. Davis returned later and wound up with two points on 2 of 2 free-throw shooting.
Mazara-Baker was asked if he thought Auburn frustrated the Hogs.
“Oh yes, clearly,” he said. “Guys usually try to play too aggressive on me. I ain’t going to just back down from nobody. So he tried to play overly aggressive and then he just came and got me with one and then we bumped each other on accident and he got mad about it and that’s why he pushed me.
“I was like, ‘Bro, it’s just a basketball game. I ain’t even trying … I’m not worried about you, I’m just trying to win this game for real.”
Chippy ball
The officials went to replay twice in the opening 3 minutes of the game with Arkansas not on the scoreboard yet.
Doug Shows called double personal fouls on Arkansas’ Chandler Lawson and Auburn’s Johni Broome well away from the ball at the 17:21 mark. Moments later, the officials reviewed Jalen Graham’s foul against Denver Jones on a drive at the basket and upgraded it to a flagrant 1 foul.
At the 12:52 mark, Shows assessed a technical foul to Auburn guard Chad Baker-Mazara for jawing at Davonte Davis after he sank a three-point shot that drew Auburn within 11-10.
Auburn guard Tre Donaldson drew a technical in the final minute of the first half for taunting at the Arkansas bench after driving for a layup and a 37-29 Auburn lead.
“I don’t know why it was chippy,” Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl said. “It was a little bit. A couple times, we talked and that wasn’t good. We’ll try not to do that again. But we just try to play the game the right way.”
Quick turnaround
Auburn forward Johni Broome had drastically different halves.
Broome shot 0 for 4 in the first half, did not score and had a negative-5 plus-minus. But the Hogs couldn’t slow him down in the second half as he went 7 for 9 and repeatedly got to the low blocks and the rim en route to 14 points.
“I thought we did a great job on him in the first half, and I thought the second half he was just totally dominant,” Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman said. “It looked like we didn’t want any part of guarding him whatsoever.”
Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl said Broome had a great second half.
“He was dominant offensively,” Pearl said. “He didn’t start well. He didn’t play well. We’re going to go as far as Johni Broome takes us. But the great thing about maybe being on a great team — and we don’t know if we’re a great team yet — is you’ve got other guys you can count on. He has got to start better than that.”
Jump shot blues
While Auburn was storming to the rim with regularity, Arkansas struggled with its jump shot.
The Razorbacks went 9 for 41 on jump shots and 7 for 24 on three-pointers. An extended shooting drought to open the second half told the tale as Arkansas did not hit a jumper until Keyon Menifield’s three-pointer at the 13:29 mark.
The Hogs’ only second half scoring up to that point was a put-back dunk by Trevon Brazile at the 18:18 mark as Auburn opened the half with a 13-2 run.