After an exhilarating win over then No. 2 Alabama, Auburn men’s basketball now has its sights set on Arkansas, an underachieving team still capable of beating top competition.

The Razorbacks come into Wednesday’s contest with the Tigers 15-10 (4-8 SEC), but have wins over ranked teams such as Kentucky and Michigan. Arkansas also has a roster talented enough to compete at the top of the SEC, at least in the eyes of Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl.

“This is a very talented team that’s playing well right now and, obviously, needs something a little more to make sure they’re in the Big Dance,” Pearl said Tuesday. “So, our guys understand that Arkansas understands the prize that is on these 40 minutes and what a win for them would do.”

It’s also John Calipari’s first trip to Auburn as Arkansas’ head coach, an arena where Calipari lost in three of his last four trips with Kentucky.

Here’s a closer look at the Razorbacks:

The season so far

As mentioned above, the Razorbacks have had an up and down year, limping to a 15-10 record and disappointing 4-8 mark in conference play.

Arkansas was competitive in most of those losses, though, and even beat Kentucky in Lexington, Calipari’s first trip back to Rupp Arena since leaving the program after 15 seasons.

That was one of three Quad I wins for Arkansas, the others being a neutral site win over Michigan in December and a Feb. 5 road win over Texas. Arkansas’ worst loss was a 78-74 road loss to LSU, one of two Quad II losses along with a home loss to Oklahoma.

Arkansas seems to have turned a corner since the Oklahoma loss, beating Kentucky and Texas in its next two games and playing top 10 teams such as Alabama and Texas A&M close.

Players to watch

Arkansas was dealt a significant blow around midway through SEC play, losing star freshman Boogie Fland to a hand injury.

Fland is Arkansas’ second-leading scorer (15.1 points per game) and leads the team in assists (5.7 per game). Adou Thiero leads the team in scoring at 15.8 points per game and is averaging 14.3 per game since Fland’s injury.

Thiero is one of three players who followed Calipari from Kentucky to Arkansas and scored 14 while adding eight rebounds in Kentucky’s win over Auburn in Neville Arena last season.

The other two players to follow Calipari from Kentucky were sophomore guard DJ Wagner and sophomore forward Zvonimir Ivisic. Both are key contributors for the Razorbacks, as Wagner leads the team in assists with Fland out and Ivisic is the team’s best 3-point shooter.

At 7-foot-2, Ivisic is a tricky matchup given his length and ability to stretch the floor, something Pearl pointed out when speaking to reporters Tuesday.

“He’s very unique. He is their best 3-point shooter, both in makes and percentage,” Pearl said. “Now that he’s starting, Cal’s doing a lot of things to get him clean looks. If he can see it, he can make it. The other thing, too, is that you can be up on him — but, since he’s 7-foot-2, if he gets that ball up in his carriage and you press up on him, he’s still getting a clean look. So, yeah, it’s a real, real weapon.”

The big man from Croatia is shooting 45% from beyond the arc this season, the highest mark among qualifying 7-footers in the country.

Another player to watch is Florida Atlantic transfer guard Johnell Davis. He’s had a relatively disappointing season after leading FAU to consecutive NCAA Tournaments, but at his best he’s still dangerous.

Davis is averaging 10.1 points per game for the Razorbacks this season, but shooting 37.6% from the field and 31.7% from 3. He recently scored 24 in Kentucky’s win over Texas, though, shooting just under 50% from the field and connecting on four of his eight 3-pointers.

Keys to the game

Avoid a letdown

No other regular season game this season will feel as big as the contest Auburn won on Saturday. With that being said, the Tigers still have business to take care of.

Arkansas is too talented of a team for Auburn to have a hangover from the Alabama game and still win. With a team as experienced as Auburn, that shouldn’t be a problem against a good team at home, but it’s still something that’s worth watching for.

Start fast

This applies to the first key in a way, as a fast start would be an early sign of avoiding a letdown.

Arkansas is one of the most susceptible teams in the country to giving up scoring runs and Auburn is one of the best at going on them. Going into an environment like Neville, that’s not a good mix for the visitors.

Auburn has in many games this season started fast and created deficits that are oftentimes insurmountable. That could be something the Tigers take advantage of early Wednesday night.

Keep up the defensive effort

Auburn is capable of being an elite defensive team. In most games it is, but the games where the defense let the Tigers down were the games they lost.

Against Alabama, Auburn had one of its best defensive performances of the season. The Tigers kept the Crimson Tide especially quiet on the perimeter, and the difference between that performance and the loss to Florida seemed to be effort.

Arkansas has the talent to make Auburn pay if the defense is lacking. But if it puts together another complete performance, Wednesday night could be another runaway victory for the Tigers.

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m