Bruce Pearl reveals 'sloppy' aspect of win over Arkansas

Auburn (24-2, 12-1 SEC) defeated Arkansas (15-11, 4-9 SEC) 67-60 on Wednesday night in a matchup where the Tigers could never create much separation from the Razorbacks.

Some of that can be attributed to Arkansas’ defensive effort on the night having forced 11 turnovers, 10 of which were steals, before falling short in their upset bid. Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl sounded off on his team’s effort after the game.

“I just thought we were sloppy in some of our passes and slopped through things and didn’t execute,” Pearl said. “We ran a very simple middle ball screen, and we stepped back to enter our offense, and they picked one off, which you could tell all game long they were close. And our guards didn’t really react to that.

“Not a good effort. Not a good offensive night for Auburn at all.”

Auburn held a 60-59 lead over the Hogs before going on an 8-1 run to close out the game and secure their 24th win of the season.

Their 67-point total is not only well below their 84.4 points per game season average, but it’s the lowest scoring total Auburn has produced since the 53-51 win over Tennessee when the Tigers were without star big man Johni Broome.

Wednesday’s game marked just the third time Auburn has scored under 70 points in a game this season. They’re 3-0 in those matchups and 2-0 without Broome.

Broome has since returned from injury and Broome went on to record another double-double during the 16-point, 13-rebound performance against Arkansas. He was complemented by Chad Baker-Mazara and Chaney Johnson, who combined for 29 points off the bench for Bruce Pearl’s squad.

Now, Auburn will move forward in its schedule and is gearing up to take on a Georgia team this weekend that has lost each of its last three games. Tip-off for the Tigers vs. Bulldogs is set for Saturday at 4 p.m. ET and will air live on ESPN.

After Saturday, there are four games left on Auburn’s regular season schedule — and all are against teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25.

The Tigers will finish the month of February at home against No. 24 Ole Miss before traveling to Rupp Arena to take on No. 17 Kentucky in Lexington. They’ll stay on the road against No. 7 Texas A&M before rounding out their regular season against the Crimson Tide at home.