Things get real quickly for Auburn early in January as SEC play begins with about as difficult a test as it gets. And No. 25 Auburn went into Bud Walton Arena and completely quieted a raucous Arkansas crowd as it blew out the Razorbacks 83-51.

Head coach Bruce Pearl’s Auburn team (12-2, 1-0 SEC) have now won seven consecutive games.

This was the largest win by a visitor in Bud Walton Arena history.

This was as big of a statement win as Auburn has had in the young season. Winning at Bud Walton Arena is difficult already. Having Arkansas fans filing for the exits with more than four minutes to go? That doesn’t happen often. Arkansas beat No. 14 Duke on the Razorbacks’ home floor earlier this season.

Auburn may have as much momentum as any team in the SEC right now. Here are three takeaways from the win.

Chad and Baker and, also, Mazara

It’s hard to tell Chad Baker-Mazara hasn’t played an SEC game before. No, really, he hasn’t. Baker-Mazara transferred to Auburn during the offseason from Northwest Florida State College — a junior college.

And as Auburn’s starters went a combined 4-17 in the first half from the field, it was Baker-Mazara who gave Auburn a first-half spark.

Really as a whole, the Tigers didn’t shoot well to begin the game. But with 14 first-half points from Baker-Mazara, Auburn was able to take a seven-point lead into halftime and generally quiet the boisterous Bud Walton Arena crowd.

Baker-Mazara and KD Johnson have been Auburn’s go-to guys when it needs a spark, especially this week with Baker-Mazara as he had the same impact in the second half against Penn on Tuesday. Doing that for Auburn again in an environment like the one in Fayetteville is a testament to the energy he brings to this team.

Baker-Mazara led Auburn with 16 total points.

But when Auburn needed its stars, Johni Broome showed up

Johni Broome didn’t score in the first half. And while Baker-Mazara made up for it, it was hard to imagine Auburn was going to win at Bud Walton Arena without Broome.

On Thursday, Pearl said Auburn wasn’t going to win many games in the SEC without its best players. Because for however deep Auburn may be, and it is quite deep, stars need to be stars in games like this.

In the second half, Broome was a star.

Broome scored 14 points all in the second half on 7-9 shooting. He added another five rebounds.

On both ends, Broome anchored one of Auburn’s best second-half defensive efforts of the season. Auburn has stressed how important improving its second-half defense has been. It’s more difficult, Pearl has said, because Auburn is further from its bench.

And at one of the noisiest arenas in the SEC, Auburn held Arkansas to 21 points.

Auburn’s trip to Appalachian State was, in fact, worth it

Auburn received a lot of heat after it lost at Appalachian State. People questioned why Auburn would bother to go play that game as it would seem Auburn would have far more to lose than it could gain.

And Auburn did lose. While only a Quad 2 loss by this point in the year, Appalachian State is clearly the relative stain on Auburn’s NCAA Tournament resumé.

But Auburn gained much more than it may have appeared.

Pearl knows his team was rattled by that Appalachian State crowd. But while a great environment in Boone, North Carolina, few beat the one at Bud Walton Arena.

The difference is now Auburn entered a very difficult road game with that experience already under its belt. Certainly, that experience helped Auburn in a big way.

This team handled one of the best SEC atmospheres with poise. Its second-half defense was as good as it has been all season.

That is why Auburn went to App State.

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]