Preview: Auburn Tigers Basketball Faces Tough Test vs. #15 Arkansas Razorbacks

After an excruciating opening to SEC play, the Tigers have their work cut out for them if they want to avoid starting 0–3 in conference play. John Calipari's 15th-ranked Razorbacks travel to Auburn this Saturday for another evening game at Neville Arena.

How to watch:
Date: Saturday, Jan 10 | Time: 6:00 PM ET
Location: Neville Arena (Auburn, AL)
TV: ESPN | Live Stream: ESPN+

With wins over Louisville, Texas Tech, and Tennessee, the 12–3 Razorbacks sit atop the conference at 2–0. Their most recent win came against Ole Miss. Auburn, meanwhile, joins LSU, Kentucky, Texas, and Ole Miss at 0–2. Here’s a snapshot of where each SEC team stands in conference play, including overall records and home/away splits.

SEC Basketball Standings: Conference, Overall, Home & Away Records

From the outside looking in, it’s probably surprising to see Auburn and especially Kentucky sitting at 0–2. Kentucky, with its reported $22 million roster, has already fallen to Alabama and Missouri.

Auburn now finds itself in an undesirable position, needing to steal wins from better opponents just to tread water in the conference. The Tigers had all but sealed a victory against Texas A&M until the 12:36 mark in the second half. In less than a minute, turnover after turnover on inbounds plays shifted the momentum completely. The Aggies finally began their three-point onslaught.

Once the Tigers started pressing, it looked for a few minutes like they might pull it off. But following the contentious overturned buzzer-beater by Murphy, Auburn walked away having lost what felt like its most critical game of the season so far.

Pressing for the entire game wasn’t a realistic option. With Abdul Bashir and Emeka Opurum out, Auburn doesn’t have enough depth to sustain that level of defensive pressure. Even the guys we do have available — Kaden Magwood and Simon Walker, for example — are either not ready or not playing well enough to rotate in for 10+ minutes.

There's still plenty of basketball left, but adding insult to injury, Auburn’s bench thins again with the injury to Filip Jović, leaving the Tigers’ roster in a delicate position.

How Does Auburn Respond?

How Auburn manages two cruel SEC losses is going to show what kind of leadership this team has, whether it's coach Steven Pearl or one of the players.

Auburn may live and die by Keyshawn Hall's production. That is, unless Kevin Overton catches fire like he did against NC State or Tahaad Pettiford brings his away-game boost to Neville. When Hall is scoring, he puts in some defensive effort, and the team's attitude shifts in the right direction. However, when the going gets tough, he checks out and becomes mentally disengaged.

There isn't a Chris Moore or Dylan Cardwell on this team to keep guys accountable. Our only returner, Pettiford, needs to step up on and off the court and assert himself in practice to become a leader for this group.

This team has all the talent you could ask for, but there are obviously areas to clean up. Outside of defensive struggles, much of it comes down to intangibles. Cutting down on mental mistakes and growing in emotional maturity would have this team sitting at 2-0 in the conference. Getting KeShawn Murphy more touches would be an improvement as well. He's not Johni Broome down low but he can absolutely produce. If Murphy could've taken a handful of Kevin Overton's 16 FG attempts, things may have looked differently, but he’s being underutilized in favor of high-volume and often selfish shooting from Overton, Hall, and, to a lesser extent, Pettiford.

Gameplan and Razorbacks' System

With Jović potentially out, I'm expecting to see more Sebastian Williams-Adams at the 5 position. We saw this briefly during the A&M game. SWA is already a key piece of Auburn's rotation and he's going to need to step up once again. Against the Aggies, he had 11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, plus a block and a pair of steals.

Arkansas has length in spades, maybe not to the caliber of Arizona or Michigan, but it’s a defining factor of Coach John Calipari’s Razorbacks.

Led by four-time SEC Freshman of the Week, 6'3" guard Darius Acuff Jr. is both a scorer and a facilitator. Acuff is averaging nearly 20 PPG, shooting 49% from the floor, with over six assists per game while Meleek Thomas and Trevon Brazile both easily average double figures. The Razorbacks as a team rank top-20 nationally in scoring, three-point percentage, free throws made, and fastbreak points. Their bench is also averaging 35 points per game.

That being said, outside of blocking shots with their length, Arkansas can struggle defensively. They rank 219th in scoring defense and 61st in KenPom's defensive rating. In this strength-vs-strength matchup, the game might come down to whoever wins the perimeter shooting contest.

Final Thoughts

This isn’t a must-win game, but stealing one would be huge for Auburn. Jović’s availability will be critical — Coach Pearl said, “It’s more about pain tolerance… Filip’s going to do everything he can to try to be available Saturday.” He’s one of the few players who can match the physicality of Arkansas’ bigs. The Tigers need leadership, consistency, and fewer hero-ball plays, with more touches for Murphy in the paint.

The Tigers are in a precarious spot at 0–2 during the supposedly easier portion of SEC play. Win or lose, this matchup is a true test of Auburn’s resilience and ability to fight through adversity.

My Prediction:
Arkansas 89, Auburn 85