Wendell Green Jr. took all of 14 seconds to set the tone Saturday night at Neville Arena.

Auburn’s fearless point guard, off the opening tip, came running off a dribble-handoff at the top of the key and pulled up from beyond the arc, firing off a 3-pointer through contact from Arkansas’ Davonte Davis. The basket fell through, nothing but net, and Green completed the four-point play at the free-throw line.

“I’m [expletive] back,” Green mouthed at the packed-out Neville Arena crowd.

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Indeed, Green was back after arguably his worst game of the season, and so too was his team. No. 22 Auburn bounced back from its flustering midweek loss at Georgia, going wire-to-wire for a 72-59 win against No. 13 Arkansas on Saturday night.

It was more than just a course-correcting win for the Tigers; it was their most significant win of the season — a Quadrant 1 victory added to their postseason resume — and won that will surely keep them in the AP top-25 for a 29th consecutive week, as they snapped a three-game losing streak against the Razorbacks.

Green finished with a team-high 19 points — his most since Nov. 27 against Saint Louis — and added five assists, three rebounds and three steals to lead the way. Allen Flanigan had 18, while Johni Broome posted another double-double, finishing with 10 points and 10 boards to go with six blocked shots.

Here are AL.com’s key takeaways from Auburn’s big win:

Allen Flanigan comes up big against home-state team

Saturday night was “personal” for Auburn senior Allen Flanigan. The Arkansas native had something to prove coming into the matchup with his home-state program, and he wasn’t afraid to let anyone know it.

Flanigan grew up in Little Rock, Ark., and he was Gatorade Player of the Year in the state coming out of high school — but he was never offered by the Razorbacks. That’s something he hasn’t forgotten over the years, and it became especially unsettling for him during Auburn’s three-game losing streak against Arkansas during his time on the Plains.

Flanigan let loose some of that grudge on Saturday, putting together a strong showing against the Razorbacks. He finished with 18 points, matching the season high he set against South Florida in the second game of the year, and added eight rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals while committing just one turnover.

A convincing first-half performance

If Saturday night didn’t represent Auburn’s best first half of the season, it was awfully close.

The Tigers led wire-to-wire, sparked first by Green’s opening four-point play, and held an 11-point advantage at halftime. Auburn shot 44.1 percent from the field, including 45.5 percent from deep, and Bruce Pearl’s squad proved to be just as sharp on the defensive end — which kept the Tigers out in front even as their offense experienced a bit of a lull late in the half.

Auburn went nearly eight minutes without a made field goal (missing seven consecutive shots between the 10:53 mark in the half to the 3:09 mark), but it maintained its lead during that rough stretch thanks to a concerted effort on the defensive end. Auburn held Arkansas to just 25 first-half points on 33.3 percent shooting and just 16.7 percent from 3-point range (1-of-6). The Tigers also benefited from the Razorbacks’ inability to capitalize at the free-throw line, as Arkansas was just 8-of-17 (47.1 percent) from the charity stripe in the first half. Auburn’s defense forced Arkansas into five straight misses to close the half, as the Razorbacks missed nine of their final 11 shots in the opening stanza and went scoreless over the final 2:13 of the half.

Auburn forced Arkansas into eight first-half turnovers—including a trio of steals by Green—which led to 15 fastbreak points for the Tigers. Conversely, Auburn corrected course with its own turnover issues. It committed just four turnovers in the first half and played the first 10-plus minutes of the game without turning the ball over a single time; the Tigers’ first turnover came with 9:36 to go in the first half.

Auburn’s switch to zone pays off

Arkansas is talented and athletic, but without Nick Smith Jr.—who has been sidelined with a knee injury—the Razorbacks lack quality shooting. They entered Saturday night as one of the nation’s worst 3-point shooting teams (328th; 29.9 percent), so Auburn wanted to take advantage of that.

The solution? A switch to a heavy reliance on a 2-3 zone, which took away one of Arkansas’ strengths—the ability to win one-on-one matchups off the dribble—and forced the Razorbacks to settle for more jumpers. The zone proved to be effective for Auburn, which held Arkansas to 25 first-half points and limited the Razorbacks to 33.9 percent shooting on the night, including a measly 2-of-16 clip from beyond the arc, as they shot just 6-of-28 (21.4 percent) on jumpers for the game.

AL.com will update this post.

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.