Hogs shocked in paint by mouthy Tigers

What was so startling about the Arkansas Razorbacks’ 83-51 loss to the Auburn Tigers on Saturday in the worst loss in Walton Arena history was no one saw it coming.

Yes, the Tigers were 3 1/2 point favorites, but the loss was 10 times that.

Even after then-No. 14 Arkansas knocked off No. 3 Purdue 81-77 in a charity exhibition game, fans knew there was going to be a learning curve.

Once again with 10 new players — and that is the trend for most programs these days — it was expected the Razorbacks would have challenges, especially fully understanding how much emphasis Coach Eric Musselman puts on playing defense.

After starting the season 3-0 Arkansas fell to North Carolina-Greensboro, a good mid-major team, and went to The Bahamas for a tune-up tournament where they edged Stanford before losing to Memphis and North Carolina.

It looked like they might slide out of November on a bad note, but instead knocked of the mighty Duke Blue Devils, 80-75, who were ranked No. 7 in the country at the time.

That game was at Walton Arena, which was almost considered invincible with the Razorbacks record 42595 record since it opened for Coach Nolan Richardson and the Razorbacks 1993-94 national championship season.

It served as a place where teams like Kentucky and others came to lose or escape by the skin of their teeth.

No one had owned Walton Arena like Richardson did until Musselman, and going into last Saturday’s game he was 68-10 at home according to ESPN. That was an 87% winning mark.

Arkansas picked up a loss to Oklahoma on Dec. 9 in Tulsa and then came home to finish the month with three nonconference wins.

With great anticipation and another loud, proud crowd, the wheels came off the Muss Bus. Not because of him, he was driving as intensely as ever, but the Razorbacks couldn’t match Auburn’s aggressiveness and finally wilted in the second half when they were outscored 46-21.

Auburn came on the floor for the opening tip with a confident strut and they quickly established themselves as the most physical team on the floor.

The Tigers were the ones attacking the boards on both ends of the court and they attacked the rim on offense for too many uncontested layups.

They were the ones using dribble drives to their advantage while too often the Razorbacks passed the ball around until someone tried a three-pointer.

Auburn mixed it up early, drawing two technical fouls in the first half.

The Tigers were mouthy and backed it up.

They went after every loose ball with a vengeance and they fought to keep rebounds alive, which allowed them to have 11 offensive rebounds.

The Tigers took 12 more shots than the Hogs and they made 34 field goals to Arkansas’ 18. That is not winning basketball in any conference.

No one was more surprised and disappointed than Musselman and he said after the game, “We stunk in all areas.”

Keyon Menifield, who led the Hogs with 14 points, summed it up succinctly: “It’s like we quit and didn’t play as a team.”

No doubt that was addressed and will be addressed until the 8 p.m. tipoff at Georgia on Wednesday. The Bulldogs are undefeated at home this season, have a 11-3 overall record and opened conference season with a 75-68 win at Missouri.

Auburn is a good basketball team and the SEC appears to be a little better than last season.

So it isn’t going to get easier, but every Razorback coach and player knows what did and didn’t happen last Saturday and they, hopefully, know how to fix it and it starts with hard-nosed aggressive play.