How to watch Arkansas-Auburn preview, scheduled lineups and more

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The Arkansas Razorbacks (19-12) will be looking to trigger a postseason run Thursday when they take on the Auburn Tigers (20-11) in the second round of the SEC tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.

Thursday’s matchup features two teams that are in Joe Lunardi’s recent Bracketology 9 seeds. While Auburn beat the Razorbacks 72-59 on Jan. 7, both teams have changed a bit since then.

“We’ve played great here at home,” said Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl. “They weren’t at full strength. They didn’t have Nick Smith. They were at a time in their season where they weren’t shooting the ball well at all and we took full advantage of that by playing 40 possessions of the zone. We probably played 80 zone balls that season, 40 of them in this game, but that was only because Arkansas was struggling so much out of three.

Fast forward to this point in the season, and Arkansas added Smith and it’s shooting the ball a lot better out of three. The Hogs are shooting 39.3% (33 of 84) from 3-point range in their last five games with the full return of Smith who is 11 of 29 (37.9%) of three and his presence enabling the rest the team has to be 22 of 55 (40%) from across the arc.

However, it will take a lot more than shooting well from three to beat Auburn. The Tigers have a big man in Johni Broome, who is second in the conference in rebounds per game and third in blocks.

“It’s not really certain how our frontline will play out in this first game,” said Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman. “Obviously Kamani (Johnson), the Mitchell twins, (Jalen) Graham. All these guys… how we defend Broome is a work in progress and then maybe try to guard their backyard a little bit differently.”

In addition to the Broome defenseman, the Razorbacks need to keep a close eye on guard Wendell Green Jr., who vented his frustration at losing to Arkansas last season in their first meeting of the season.

Green was on the wrong end of Vomste Davis’ exclamation mark slam at the end of Arkansas’ 80-76 excitement against then-No. 1 Auburn, and that was on his mind as he posted a team-high 19 against the Razorbacks on Jan. 7 points scored.

“I’ve been thinking about it the whole time,” Green said. “I couldn’t wait to play this game. And now I get another chance to play them – we get another chance to play them. There’s a lot behind it, but it should be fun.”

Here are watch/listen details, notes, expected lineups, stats, odds and more for Thursday’s game between Arkansas and Auburn:

~ This will be the 59th meeting between Arkansas and Auburn. All but one (a meeting in Oklahoma City in the 1967-68 season) have come since Arkansas joined the SEC. The Razorbacks hold a 37-21 lead in the series.

~ This will be the second neutral site meeting between the schools. Auburn won the very first meeting in Oklahoma City on December 28, 1968, 65-58. The other came on March 12, 2000 when Arkansas defeated Auburn 75-67 in Atlanta to win the SEC Tournament Championship.

~ Earlier this year, Auburn went on a triple losing streak against Arkansas, but the Hogs have still won 13 of the last 18.

~ Arkansas is 29-29 all-time in the SEC tournament and this will be only the second time Arkansas has faced Auburn in the SEC tournament.

~ This marks the 11th year that the SEC tournament will be held at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. Arkansas is 8-9 all-time at Bridgestone Arena, and has reached the Finals twice (2015 and 2017) and the Semifinals twice (2001 and 2021).

~ Thanks to 513 points this year and third place in the SEC in scoring (16.5 ppg), Ricky Council IV is just two points short of 1,000 points in his career

~ Arkansas is having its best winning streak in the last five games when guarding the 3-point arc. Opponents shoot from deep just 23.2% (21 of 91), including Florida with just 4 of 21 (19%) and Alabama with just 3 of 22 (13.6%).

WHO: Arkansas Razorbacks (19-12) vs. Auburn Tigers (20-11)

If: Thursday, March 9th at 6pm CT

Where: Nashville, Tennessee – Bridgestone Arena (18,500)

TV: SEC Network (Tom Hart, Dane Bradshaw, Alyssa Lang)

Stream/Online: WATCH ESPN

Radio: Learfield Razorback Sports Network (Chuck Barrett and Matt Zimmerman)

Matchday information and how to listen online/mobile: Razorback Gameday App

Sirius/XM: open

#0 – G Anthony Black – Fri, 6’7″, 198 lbs.

2022-23 stats per game: 34.6 min, 12.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 2.0 steals, 3.1 turnovers, 0.5 blocks, 46.3 fg%, 32.1 3fg%

#3 – G Nick Smith Jr. – Fri, 6’5″, 185 lbs.

2022-23 stats per game: 25.3 mins, 13.8 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.9 steals, 1.3 turnovers, 0.2 blocks, 39.5 fg%, 34.0 3fg%

#4 – G Vomste Davis – Jr., 6’4″, 185 lbs.

2022-23 stats per game: 33.1 min, 10.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.4 steals, 2.0 turnovers, 0.1 blocks, 41.7 fg%, 35.3 3fg%

#15 – F Makhi Mitchell – Sr., 6’9″, 230 lbs.

2022-23 stats per game: 19.9 min, 6.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.8 steals, 0.9 turnovers, 1.4 blocks, 64.9 fg%, 100 3fg%

#22 – F Makhel Mitchell – Sr., 6’10”, 240 lbs.

2022-23 stats per game: 14.3 min, 4.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, 0.4 assists, 0.4 steals, 0.6 turnovers, 1.7 blocks, 62.5 fg%

#1 – G. Wendell Green Jr. – Jr., 5’11”, 175 lbs.

2022 stats per game: 28.0 min, 13.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.27 steals, 2.7 turnovers, 36.6 fg%, 29.1 3fg%

#12 – G Zep Jasper – Grad Sr., 6’1″, 185 lbs.

2022 statistics per game: 18.3 min, 3.0 points, 0.9 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.3 turnovers, 33.0 fg%, 29.2 3fg%

#22 – G Allen Flanigan – Sr., 6’6″, 220 lbs.

2022 stats per game: 26.4 mins, 9.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.8 steals, 1.8 turnovers, 0.3 blocks, 44.3 fg%, 34.7 3fg%

#2 – F Jaylin Williams – Sr., 6’8″, 230 lbs.

2022 stats per game: 28.0 mins, 11.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.1 steals, 1.2 turnovers, 0.8 blocks, 47.5 fg%, 36.5 3fg%

#4 – F Johni Broome – Sun, 6’10”, 235 lbs.

2022 stats per game: 26.2 mins, 14.0 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.9 steals, 1.8 turnovers, 2.4 blocks, 52.5 fg%, 28.6 3fg%

Vegas: Arkansas is a 1.5 point favorite (BetSaracen)

ESPN: Arkansas has a 55.0% chance of winning

(some information courtesy of Arkansas and Auburn Communications)

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