Arkansas to face Auburn

FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas gymnastics teams will enter a rowdy environment tonight not conducive to breaking out of a stretch of inconsistency.

The No. 21 Razorbacks will travel to face No. 11 Auburn tonight at 7 in the final home meet of the season for the Tigers. Arkansas (1-7, 0-4) has won three consecutive regular season meets against Auburn, but they have struggled with injuries and uneven performances that have produced just one score of 196-plus.

“That’s part of the learning process,” Arkansas coach Mark Cook said of a last week’s score of 195.8, which was not good enough to beat No. 8 Alabama. “We’re having a missed routine here and a missed routine there and we can’t afford to do that. … Our potential is high, but we’re not performing it well.”

The Razorbacks are expected to have sophomore all-arounder Sarah Shaffer back at Auburn after missing last week’s meet with a mild concussion.

The Razorbacks blitzed Auburn last season with a 196.75 for a winning margin of 1.875 points, the largest in the series. Auburn is 3-0 at home and had sellouts in their last two meets at Auburn Arena in upsets of No. 4 LSU and No. 6 Georgia.

Arkansas sophomore Sophia Carter posted a 9.9 on the floor exercise last week to post her fifth title in six meets on that event this season. Freshman Kennedy Hambrick posted her first all-around title last week with a 39.175 versus Alabama.