FAYETTEVILLE — No. 1 Auburn hadn’t lost since before Thanksgiving and unranked Arkansas had never defeated a top basketball team at Bud Walton Arena.
The two things no longer hold true after Tuesday night when the Razorbacks beat the Tigers 80-76 in overtime in front of a record crowd of 20,327.
Arkansas (19-5, 8-3 SEC) extended its winning streak to 9 games and secured a 19-game winning streak for Auburn (22-2, 10-1).
More from WholeHogSports: Full coverage of Arkansas win over Auburn
“I was proud to be No. 1 and we hadn’t lost since November,” Pearl said. “Our head is at a price. It’s very difficult on the road. And congratulations to Arkansas. It’s just hard for me to believe we were the first No. 1 team to come here since they’ve been in the SEC.
JD Notae led Arkansas with a game-high 28 points while Au’Diese Toney had 14 points and 10 rebounds, Jaylin Williams had 13 points and 11 boards, and Devo Davis added 10 points.
During the pregame, Auburn players danced to the Razorback logo in midfield, but Arkansas’ postgame fans stormed the field.
A dance video was shown to Arkansas players before the game, Arkansas coach Eric Musselman said.
The win cut Auburn’s SEC lead over Kentucky to one game with Arkansas and Tennessee two games behind.
“Yeah, a lot of good teams in our league,” Pearl said. “We know we don’t have a lot of room for error. I don’t see Kentucky losing a lot. So we know what position we’re in. We worked really hard to get ourselves in that position.
Auburn guard Wendell Green, who missed a three-pointer late in regulation that would have won the game for the Tigers, had an interesting take after the game.
“It’s awesome,” Green said. “I kind of forgot and felt what it was like to lose. We hadn’t lost for 20 games I think, something like that. We needed it and we’re just going to stick together. We’re just going to think about what we have control over.
Pearl’s team last lost 115-109 to Connecticut in double overtime on Nov. 24 at the Battle of Atlantis in the Bahamas.
Arkansas was 26 of 32 from the free throw line while Auburn was 8 of 17.
“I think Arkansas played well and played hard,” Pearl said. “Give them credit. I think we played very well defensively. I think we played very well. 32 times we didn’t make it, but 17 we did and we didn’t convert.
“We have worked very hard to put ourselves in this position. It was hard. It was hard. We had 30 field goals and they had 23 field goals, which is good when you’re on the road.
PHOTO GALLERY: Arkansas defeats top-ranked Tigers
Auburn lost despite a monster 7-1 transfer game at North Carolina Walker Kessler who was close to a triple-double before fouling in overtime.
“Walker Kessler was amazing – 16 points, 19 rebounds,” Pearl said. “Simply amazing, and seven blocks – what a warrior.”
Jabari Smith added 20 points and 9 rebounds, and Green had 19 points but 7 of his team’s 19 turnovers.
“Obviously Jabari made some big moves,” Pearl said. “Wendell was a tough cover, but he flipped it too much.
“Arkansas did a good job turning us over and got (24) points on those turnovers. They got us a little bit upset and we turned the basketball over too much.
Green accepted blame for his mistakes.
“It’s just unacceptable for me to have so many turnovers, especially on the road,” Green said. “They kind of bothered us in the paint with the big guys right there undermining me. For me personally, I just can’t turn the ball over like that.
According to Pearl, having three players scoring all but 21 of his points was not good for Auburn.
“For us, it’s always the sum of our parts when we play well and we don’t, which has been the last two games,” Pearl said. “We don’t need 1 or 2 or 3 guys to carry us and that’s what it looked like tonight. So we need more balance and for some reason that hasn’t happened.
Green felt confident in his late shot as he was just 1-of-6 from three-pointers up to that point.
“My teammates trust me,” Green said. “I want the ball in my hands at the end of the game, draw. I shot and my teammates didn’t really trip. The coach doesn’t stumble too much about it. I just ended up missing.
Arkansas took a 27-15 first-half lead on Chris Lykes’ two free throws at 4:13, but Green’s bucket just before halftime cut that deficit to 28-25 and the Smith’s old-school three-point game tied. barely in the second half.
VIDEO: Eric Musselman, players recap victory
“The atmosphere, they had a big home advantage,” Green said. “I think we did a good job of sorting that out throughout the game.”
Green was asked what the locker room looked like afterwards.
“Before (Pearl) came along, we were just saying we went out there and played hard,” Green said. “We try not to let the guys fight. That’s what a lot of guys do. We are still 22-2.”