3 Takeaways From Auburn's Dominant Win Over No. 15 Arkansas

The Auburn Tigers had their best performance of the season thus far on Saturday evening in Neville Arena, thrashing the No. 15 Arkansas Razorbacks by a score of 95-73.

Auburn dominated all aspects of the game in its first SEC win of the Steven Pearl era, taking a lead just over four minutes into the first half and never looking back. The Tigers won by 22 points, but they once led by 29 with two minutes remaining in regulation, demonstrating how the contest was never even close.

Pearl and company now sit at 10-6 overall and 1-2 in conference play, with a road trip to Missouri and a home game against South Carolina up next on the docket.

Let’s take a look at three things we learned from Auburn’s thrashing of Arkansas on Saturday.

Keyshawn Hall is Unstoppable

Auburn senior Keyshawn Hall is simply unstoppable, and it has been apparent in a vast majority of the Tigers’ games this year.

Hall posted 30 points, including 18 in the first half, on 11-of-14 from the field and 4-of-5 from three-point land. Accompanied by his 32 points in the Tigers’ loss to Texas A&M on Tuesday, Hall became the first Auburn player to record back-to-back 30-point performances since Wesley Person in 1994.

Big Guard Keyshawn Hall dropped 32 points to lead Auburn over #15 Arkansas 95-73 🔥@AuburnMBB @xkeyy2 pic.twitter.com/tXkQBaVfFU
— SLAM University (@slam_university) January 11, 2026

Additionally, the UCF transfer also finished with five assists, two blocked shots, two rebounds and a steal. Hall currently ranks second in the SEC in scoring with 21.7 points per game, sitting just behind star Mississippi State guard Josh Hubbard. He also has a tremendous ability to draw fouls and get to the charity stripe, as he leads the league in both free throws attempted (7.7) and free throws made (8.9) per game.

If Hall continues to be the constant scoring machine that he has proven to be, he could lift the Tigers to great heights this season and potentially even compete for SEC Player of the Year.

Playing Together = Success

One of the biggest criticisms of this year’s squad is its tendency to play “hero ball,”, as the Tigers sometimes stray away from sharing the rock.

However, Auburn looked as jelled and comfortable on Saturday night as it has all season. The Tigers played together in all aspects of the game, but especially on the offensive end of the court. They averaged 14.6 assists per game, but managed to total 20 assists against the Razorbacks, which also allowed Auburn to exceed its nightly point total by 7.5 points.

The Tigers also played significantly better on defense, forcing 11 Arkansas turnovers and scoring 13 points of turnovers. The Razorbacks have averaged 89.4 points per game this season, but Auburn held them to just 73.

If Auburn wants to find success in this league, and maybe even make a run for the SEC title, it needs to continue to play as a team and unselfishly.

Auburn’s Floor Could Be High… But How High?

As mentioned, Saturday night marked the Tigers’ best game of the year up to this point. A 22-point pummeling of a top-15 team with a Hall of Fame head coach at the helm is certainly encouraging, but how high is Auburn’s ceiling?

It’s hard to tell, but if they continue on this trajectory and build upon it, the Tigers could easily find themselves right back in the conference championship race. Remember, Auburn has 10 new players this season, so they were always going to need time to mesh and take shape, but the win against Arkansas definitely infuses life into this team and the fanbase.