Arkansas junior guard Julysses Nobles drives past Auburn guard Frankie Sullivan in the first half of the Razorbacks' 56-53 win against the Tigers. Nobles was one of several players that addressed the team in the locker room at halftime after the Hogs shot just 14.8 percent and trailed 22-19. Photo by Logan Webster
Arkansas came out on fire against Michigan on Saturday, connecting on its first 11 shots.
Wednesday night against Auburn was a different story.
The Razorbacks missed their first eight shots and ended the first half shooting 14.8 percent going 4-for-27. Auburn wasn’t much better though, shooting 9-of-24 and taking just a three point lead into halftime.
Arkansas rallied in the second half though; outscoring Auburn (12-8, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) 37-31 in the second half to finish with a 56-53 win.
“First of all I am happy with the win,” coach Mike Anderson said. “It was a game that was a grinder. I appreciate the fans for staying around. After that first half, I mean you shoot 14 percent you feel that you are really struggling, and indeed we were.”
Arkansas guard Julysses Nobles was held scoreless in the first half, but registered 10 points and was one of three Hogs that finished in double-digits scoring.
“We just couldn’t hit any shots,” Nobles said. “Our defense was there we just couldn’t hit shots. We went to the locker room to talk and we knew we couldn’t play a worse half than that.”
The 22-19 advantage Auburn had a halftime was their first halftime lead during a conference road game this season. Arkansas (15-5, 3-2 SEC) came out in the second half with two consecutive 3-pointers by Nobles.
“We focused on coming out with the same defense, but making shots, and that is what we did,” Nobles said.
Nobles had a game-high five steals on the defensive end of the floor, including one that he took in for a dunk after taking the ball away from Auburn’s Josh Wallace. The dunk attempt rattled out, however.
“That was crazy,” Nobles said. “I was going to lay it up, but then I missed it and turned it back over.”
The Razorbacks netted 5-of-9 3-point shots in the second half, contributing to their 55.6 percent shooting from the field.
“I think in the second half we came out with the energy and the execution offensively as well,” Anderson said.
Arkansas’ leading scorer, BJ Young, had just four points in the first half, but finished the game with a team-high 11 points. Young had the Hogs final two points of the game with a monstrous dunk off of a Ky Madden steal with 20 seconds to play.
“It was a great win for our team and we stayed together,” Young said. “We really focused on the defensive end because we couldn’t throw it in the ocean. We never really lost our head and coach Anderson helped keep us together at halftime even though we had just 19 points.”
Although the Razorbacks had a poor half offensively during the first half, their defense was showing off its SEC-best defense at forcing opponent turnovers. The Hogs forced 15 Tiger turnovers in the first half including four on Auburn star player Kenny Gabriel.
Arkansas forced 22 Tiger turnovers for the game, while committing just 11 of their own to go with 14 assists.
“We just really tried to stay focused on the defense end and we came out with the W,” Young said.