Auburn rides 3-point barrage to 79-56 win over Arkansas

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Bryce Brown scored 18 points and contributed five 3-pointers to Auburn’s long-range barrage in a 79-56 rout of Arkansas Wednesday night.

The Tigers (18-8, 7-6 Southeastern Conference) built a 30-point lead in the first half and made 17 of 33 3-pointers. It was the most 3s by Auburn since the opener against South Alabama.

The Razorbacks (14-12, 5-8) dropped their fourth straight game and could never dig out of a 22-1 hole in the opening minutes.

Brown made 5 of 8 3s to lead four Auburn scorers in double figures. Anfernee McLemore scored 13 points while Chuma Okeke had 11 points and five assists. Jared Harper scored 10.

Arkansas’ Isaiah Joe launched freely in a battle of the SEC’s two most prolific 3-point shooters, himself and Brown. Joe scored 14 points and made 4 of 14 3s.

Daniel Gafford had 10 points and eight rebounds for the Razorbacks.

The Tigers made six 3-pointers before Arkansas hit its first field goal after eight misses.

The first-half lead grew to 30 and stood at 45-20 at the half.

The Razorbacks shot just 32.8 percent overall and were 4 of 26 from 3-point range.

BIG PICTURE

Arkansas: Never rebounded from a cold start when the team needed more than 7 minutes to make a basket. Also gave up a 23-1 run to Mississippi State in the last game.

Auburn: Showed how dangerous the team can be when the 3-pointers are falling from a variety of shooters.

MALIK STARTS

Malik Dunbar scored eight points for Auburn, all in the opening six minutes, in his first start of the season and fourth of his career. Samir Doughty was limited by a foot injury.

UP NEXT

Arkansas goes for a season sweep of Texas A&M at home Saturday night.

Auburn visits No. 4 Kentucky Saturday in a rematch of a game the Wildcats won 82-80 on Jan. 19.