3-pointers the Key for Auburn Snapping 7-game Losing Streak Against Arkansas

Auburn (9-15, 3-9) will take their seven-game losing streak to Bud Walton Arena to face Arkansas (12-13, 5-7) where Auburn hasn’t won since 2009. The Razorbacks have lost two games in a row themselves, but they’ll be looking to get back on track at home against a struggling Auburn team.

A few weeks ago, this game would have seemed completely out of reach for Auburn, but given the two recent bad losses for Arkansas, it gives Auburn a sliver of hope. A week ago Arkansas was sitting at 5-5 in the SEC with good wins over Vanderbilt and Texas A&M on their resume. Instead of taking advantage of an easier road trip last week, Arkansas went on to lose to Mississippi State and Ole Miss by a combined 48 points. While Auburn has been playing even worse, the Razorbacks certainly are coming off the type of week that Auburn is very accustomed to this year.

When the Razorbacks and Tigers meet up in Bud Walton Arena, it will be to see which team can snap their streak. Can Arkansas take advantage of returning home and give Auburn yet another road loss, or will Auburn finally be able to get a conference win on the road and snap their seven game losing streak?

Just based on personnel, this game is immediately in favor of Arkansas. While Auburn has lost players left and right all season long, Arkansas has had quite a few guys step up and surpass their pre-season expectations. Texas Tech transfer Dusty Hannahs has been a huge asset for Arkansas this year and is third on the team in scoring with 15.8 points per game.

Alongside Hannahs are veterans Moses Kingsley and Anthlon Bell who are averaging 16 and 16.2 points per game respectively. Kingsley is also leading the team with 9.1 rebounds per game. Hannahs, Kingsley, and Bell are a three-headed monster that Auburn will struggle to contain.

Earlier in the season, Arkansas’s fast pace of play would have fit right into the style of Auburn’s play as well. Unfortunately, now a fast paced game typically leads to Auburn’s depleted roster getting tired even more quickly. Add in the foul trouble of Horace Spencer and other Auburn players, and the Tigers could be playing catch up from early on in this game.

Bruce Pearl went with a big starting lineup of Devin Waddell, Tyler Harris, Cinmeon Bowers, Jordon Granger, and TJ Lang against Vanderbilt and it initially helped slow down Vanderbilt’s bigs early on. I doubt this will be Pearl’s strategy this time around as he can expect Arkansas to try and start playing fast, especially at home.

This time Auburn should try to spread the ball around and go back to relying on the three point-shot. Bryce Brown and TJ Lang really need to get out of their slumps for Auburn to have success, and a third player, whether it’s New Williams or Jordon Granger, would be a major asset for Auburn if they can also put the ball through the net from behind the three-point arc.

Arkansas has been one of the worst three-point defensive teams in the conference and in the country this year, but that doesn’t guarantee Auburn will find a way to get out of their awful shooting slump. The Tigers snapped their three-game streak of shooting a season low field goal percentage, but still shooting under 30 percent will not win many basketball games.

Tyler Harris hasn’t practiced for the past week or so but has still been playing in the games. The lack of practice has shown as the senior forward hasn’t been able to find any sort of offensive game. Bruce Pearl continues to have faith in Harris, but it would be nice to see the forward go back to being one of Auburn’s leading scorers and rebounders. Harris is only 1-of-18 over the last two games and has only accounted for six total points. As desperate as Auburn is for points, Harris will need to start stepping up like fellow senior Cinmeon Bowers.

While most other players have the ability to just start looking towards next year, Harris, Granger, and Bowers are going to have to fight for what they can earn the rest of this season. If Auburn is going to win more games this year these three guys will have to step up. Bowers has been doing his part since being assigned the starting point guard roll, but there hasn’t been much help from the other veterans.

Maybe the Razorbacks will continue to struggle like they have in the past two games, but I don’t think that will continue now that they’re back in Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas is battling to stay above .500 on the year, and an easy win over Auburn should be an excellent way to achieve that.

I don’t count on Arkansas taking this game lightly as they kick off a three-game home stand where they’ll attempt to get back to a winning record in the SEC and on the year overall. While I hope to see continued improvement from Auburn, the three key players from Arkansas will be too much for the Tigers to handle. Auburn loses yet another one at Bud Walton Arena by a score of 78-65.