Key Piece to Miss Auburn Tigers Matchup Against Arkansas

The Auburn Tigers (14-10, 5-6 SEC) are set to take on the 21st-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks (18-6, 8-3 SEC) on Saturday evening. However, the Tigers will be without their leading scorer, Keyshawn Hall, for an undisclosed reason.

Hall will still travel with the team to Fayetteville and will watch the game from the sideline, according to On3’s Justin Hokanson.

Hall’s availability has been in question since the Tigers’ loss to the Vanderbilt Commodores on Tuesday evening. In that matchup, Hall did not play in the 13 minutes in the loss to the Commodores, in which Auburn head coach Steven Pearl declared it a "coach's decision”.

"We'd obviously love for Key to close out games for us," Pearl said Friday. "He's a guy that can get to the foul line and do a lot of great things. When he's in games, we're obviously better."

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Pearl also said that Hall had a good response in practice this week but that “those are conversations that we keep private and closed doors."

The availability report did not specify if an injury played a role in Pearl’s decision to remove him from the lineup, as injury specifics are not required on to listed. Against the Tennessee Volunteers, it was reported that Hall received stitches in his shooting hand, and he could be seen favoring that same hand in Auburn’s loss to Vanderbilt on Tuesday evening.

Hall is the leading scorer for the Tigers, averaging 20.7 points per game, 6.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. Hall averages around 33 minutes per game in the Tigers’ rotation, making this loss significant for Auburn.

In Auburn’s beatdown of the Razorbacks earlier this season, Hall scored 32 points, had five assists and grabbed two rebounds. Hall was overall 11-for-14 from the floor and 4-for-5 from behind the three-point line. Auburn won that matchup, 95-73.

Hall has struggled for the Tigers in their previous two matchups, shooting 11-35 from the field overall. Although Hall has struggled shooting, the Tigers have still been very competitive in both of those games, with both opponents (Vanderbilt and Alabama) requiring a late push to get past them.

Now, Auburn will have to adopt a "next man up" mentality, as the Razorbacks are on a two-game winning streak, while Auburn has dropped three consecutive contests. A possible lineup Pearl could start includes Tahaad Pettiford, Kevin Overton, Sebastian Williams-Adams, Keyshawn Murphy, and Elyjah Freeman to replace Hall.

Auburn has not had the season it expected thus far, but there is still time to turn things around and pick up a much-needed win in Fayetteville Saturday evening. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 CST and will be televised on ESPN.

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