Chad Baker-Mazara injury update: Bruce Pearl reveals status ahead of Arkansas matchup

While Chad Baker-Mazara has been playing for Auburn, his health has still been a storyline. Head coach Bruce Pearl has been open about the topic and even brought Baker-Mazara off the bench. Progress has continued to be made and appears to be the case once again on Tuesday.

Pearl provided an update on Baker-Mazara, saying he looked healthy during Monday’s practice. One final test on Tuesday was going to need passing before making a determination of his status in the starting lineup against Arkansas on Wednesday night.

“Bruce Pearl says Chad Baker-Mazara looked healthy on Monday and the staff will see how he looks today before deciding if he might return to the starting lineup on Wednesday night,” Justin Hokanson of On3’s Auburn Live said via X.

Baker-Mazara has yet to miss a game despite being banged up. His presence against Vanderbilt was certainly not there, having his first buckshot of the season on 0-6 shooting from the field in 28 minutes played. In the previous game against Florida, just 19 minutes were played in a game Auburn eventually lost.

However, you knew the Alabama game would be one Baker-Mazara showed up for no matter the circumstances. A 15-point effort with four makes from the field — two of which were from three — guided Auburn to one of the biggest regular season wins in program history.

The afternoon did end abruptly when Baker-Mazara was called for a Flagrant 1 foul in the second half. Not enough to be ejected from the game, it was foul No. 5 and Baker-Mazara was disqualified. Even so, Auburn was able to hold on for the road victory in Coleman Coliseum.

All attention has switched over to facing Arkansas on Wednesday. Pearl says Auburn began to think about their next game not too long after beating Alabama, knowing the grind of an SEC schedule can be tough. Arkansas has cooled down but not too long ago, were roaring up NCAA Tournament projections after a few key wins.

Neville Arena has been waiting to see Auburn play for quite some time now, coming back after 11 days away. Everyone in the crowd is hoping to hear Baker-Mazara’s name called when announcing the starting lineups. He is certainly a fan-favorite on the Plains.

At the very least, Pearl will call him off the bench quite early in the game as Auburn aims for win No. 24 on the season.