After a pair of painful losses to open SEC play, Auburn basketball invites No. 15 Arkansas to Neville Arena on Saturday.
Auburn forward Keyshawn Hall, the SEC’s third-leading scorer who scored 32 points and hauled in 12 rebounds in the Tigers’ 90-88 loss to Texas A&M, says Auburn must find a way to quit putting itself in certain losing situations.
“We have a lot of fight in us,” Hall said. “We’ve got to stop putting ourselves in these situations. We have a lot of grit, we want to win, so we’re trying our hardest.”
Hall was also 13-of-16 from the foul line in the Tigers’ most recent loss, making him the nation’s leader in free throws made with 109 on the season.
“I try to make sure I finish it because certain games, you’re not going to have refs who call fouls, especially not late in tight games, they’re not going to bail you out with fouls,” Hall said. “I try to stay locked in on finishing other than trying to draw a foul.”
The Razorbacks have won three in a row and enter the contest with a 12-3 overall record and a 2-0 mark in SEC play. Led by Hall of Famer John Calipari, Arkansas boasts the nation's 16th-highest scoring offense at 90.5 points per game – marking the fifth team Auburn has played that is top 20 in scoring offense.
Razorbacks guard Darius Acuff, Jr., who sits a spot behind Hall on the SEC’s scoring leader list, averages 19.9 points per game while shooting 43.2 percent from 3-point range.
“One of the best point guards in college basketball,” Auburn coach Steven Pearl said of Acuff. “They present a lot of challenges, which is really going to test our on-ball defense. They’re a handful, which is one of the reasons right now they’re one of the favorites to win this league.”
Marking yet another opportunity for Auburn to secure a Quad I win, the Tigers and Razorbacks will tip off at 5 p.m. on ESPN.
“It’s going to be an unbelievable opportunity for us to go against another quality opponent,” said Pearl.
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