LITTLE ROCK — When Rob Chubb was unguarded and missed a point-blank layup with 14:09 to play, it was the perfect illustration of the Auburn Tigers.
Ugly.
Or maybe it was all those open shots Rotnei Clarke got early.
Or how Auburn milked the clock on every possession and that was the Tigers’ best defense.
Or why Arkansas was called for goal tending on a desperation three-point attempt as the first half ended.
Maybe Auburn’s play was so contagious that was why Marcus Britt bounced a pass off Michael Sanchez’s head late in the second half.
Everything about Auburn’s game is ugly, so the Tigers try to make opponents ugly.
Honestly, there have been times the Razorbacks didn’t need help or encouragement to play ugly, but Saturday, Auburn was so ugly it was next to impossible to not mirror the Tigers.
The two SEC schools whose football teams went to BCS games (Auburn won the BCS championship), met in an ugly basketball game, but in the end it was the Hogs who found a way to be less ugly.
Each had a lot on the line. The Tigers are in a cellardweller battle with the LSU Tigers, and the Razorbacks are trying to take second place in the West and get a first-round bye in the SEC Tournament.
OK, there’s a little more on the line for John Pelphrey, who is in his fourth season at Arkansas, than Auburn’s rookie Coach Tony Barbee, who inherited a team short on talent.
The Razorbacks looked so efficient, so good in their victory against Kentucky on Wednesday it shouldn’t have been a surprise they would be subject to Auburn’s style of play.
Well, not all of them and not all the time.
The Razorbacks had seen a 12-point second-half lead dwindle to four because of turnovers and Marshawn Powell being parked on the bench with foul problems, but Britt hit a picture-perfect 10-foot jumper to make it 52-45.
Auburn answered with a three and almost got the ball back, but Sanchez bulled through Auburn for a field goal and was fouled. His three-point play made it 55-48 with 3:50 to play.
The Tigers were starting to shed their ugly masks and hit their second consecutive three. Then Powell, who had just returned to the game, missed a three.
Auburn squeezed the clock and then missed two shots.
Pelphrey called for his team to run some time off, but Julysses Nobles drove the baseline and missed and Chubb answered for Auburn to cut it to 55-53.
Nobles then dribbled the Hogs into a shot-clock violation, and it had been more than seven minutes since Rotnei Clarke had taken a shot as the Tigers had stepped up their defense on him.
Auburn tied it with 28 seconds to play. And with 14 seconds left, Pelphrey took a timeout.
Auburn wisely went after Clarke, who had 17 points in the first 32 minutes and few touches after, but when he rotated, the player on Delvon Johnson was out of position. Nobles hit Johnson in the paint and Johnson dunked.
The Hogs survived and picked up their second SEC road victory of the season, and are 7-7, equaling last year’s total of victories in league play. They have Mississippi State at home this Wednesday followed by a road trip to Ole Miss.
After a beautiful victory Wednesday, the Razorbacks got an ugly victory Saturday, but as the experts say that’s better than a pretty loss.
Sports, Pages 23 on 02/27/2011