Ervin's Second-Half Surge Carries Razorbacks Past Auburn

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) -Gary Ervin scored all 18 of his points in the second half to lead Arkansas over Auburn 65-57 Wednesday night.

Auburn led 29-26 at halftime. Ervin sank a shot from a few feet behind midcourt at the buzzer, but officials reviewed it and ruled he had released the shot too late.

In the second half, Ervin made a pair of 3-pointers before finding Steven Hill for an alley-oop dunk as Arkansas moved ahead by seven at 42-35.

The Razorbacks (15-8, 4-5 Southeastern Conference) led 58-51 after Ervin drove to the basket and drew a goaltending call, but Auburn (14-11, 4-6) scored the next four points.

Arkansas’ Darian Townes missed the front end of a 1-and-1, then made only 1-of-2 free throws with 1:45 remaining, but DeWayne Reed missed a driving layup for the Tigers, and Hill scored on an alley-oop from Sonny Weems at the other end to push the lead to six.

Reed then turned the ball over, and Ervin made 1-of-2 from the free throw line to make it 62-55.

Ervin, Arkansas’ often-erratic point guard, finished with three assists and five turnovers, but he made up for that with his scoring. The Razorbacks have struggled with turnovers this season, but they finished with 15 against Auburn, four fewer than the Tigers.

Freshman Patrick Beverley scored 13 points for Arkansas, and Townes added 11. Charles Thomas, who sat out last weekend’s loss to Kentucky with a shoulder injury, returned and contributed 10 points and seven rebounds.

Weems had two points and nine assists. Hill led Arkansas with nine rebounds.

Josh Dollard led the Tigers with 15 points. Quan Prowell, Korvotney Barber, Frank Tolbert and Quantez Robertson scored 10 each. Barber had seven turnovers.

Ervin, a transfer from Mississippi State, is in his first season with the Razorbacks. He’s scored 18 points once before at Arkansas, in an 88-61 win over Alabama last month. He’s also turned the ball over 28 times over his last seven games, but against the Tigers, he scored enough to make up for some occasional recklessness.

The Razorbacks shot only 9-of-17 on free throws and missed several down the stretch, but Auburn couldn’t score enough to close the gap.

Thomas scored all 10 of his points in the first half.

Arkansas made at least one 3-pointer for the 600th straight game.

Download: auburn box.pdf