From an outsider’s perspective, Tay Waller has been a surprising success in his first year at Auburn and has defied the expectations usually bestowed upon a junior-college transfer.

But the ultimate insider, coach Jeff Lebo, doesn’t see it that way. He wants more from the hot-cold sharpshooter.

“He’s got to grow his game,” Lebo said. “I’d like to see him score in different ways.”

Auburn (11-7, 1-3 SEC) hits the road today to face Arkansas (12-4, 0-3) at Bud Walton Arena. Whether or not Waller finds different ways to score — or score anything at all — will have a major effect on the Tigers’ chances of picking up their first SEC win away from Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum.

Waller’s been fairly consistent with where he picks up his points.

Almost too consistent.

All but 41 of Waller’s 182 field goal attempts have been from beyond the arc.

Of his 70 makes, 51 have been 3-pointers.

His inability to get to the foul line as much as Lebo desires is indicative of Waller’s penchant to hang 20 feet and 9 inches from the basket. Waller leads the Tigers — one of the worst foul-shooting teams in the country — with an 81 percent success rate, but has only attempted 37.

“I think we’ve seen glimpses of what he can do, but we haven’t seen it consistently,” Lebo said. “And that’s what we need to get out of Tay.”

The word’s gotten out about Waller across the SEC. Not one of Lebo’s bi-weekly teleconferences have gone without a question from an out-of-pocket reporter regarding Waller’s emergence since conference play began.

The teams they cover have taken notice as well.

Waller has been forced to create his own shot from long-range, as teams are smothering the Tigers’ most dangerous threat on the perimeter.
Instead of casual man-to-man defense, Waller has been pushed, shoved and bothered by a variety of schemes drawn up to prevent him from sinking an open 3.

That type of defense has basically begged Waller to penetrate into the lane for a closer look or, at the least, induce contact for two free looks from the line.

He just hasn’t exploited it enough, Lebo said.

“He’s got to grow that portion of his game, being able to put the ball on the floor enough that they have to respect his ability to drive the ball and get to the foul line,” Lebo said. “He hasn’t shown that. He’s shown his catch and shoot.”

The type of defense Waller sees may have an effect on what he does in a certain game. But, through 18 games, it’s appeared to ultimately come down to whether or not Waller is “on.”

In Auburn’s loss to Florida, Waller saw a number of open looks, but hit just one of eight attempts. Against Alabama, Waller hoisted a number of questionable, tough shots early in the shot clock, but was successful six of eight times.

Waller’s big games have certainly opened up the inside for lone big-man Korvotney Barber. The same can be said for DeWayne Reed and Quantez Robertson, both of whom have helped contribute to Auburn’s SEC-high 415 3-point attempts.

The flurry of attempts just haven’t done much to help the Tigers’ percentage, as they rank ninth in the conference with a 32 percent average.

“When we have to play a little bit smaller at times, that’s one of our strengths, being able to bring you out away from the bucket and shoot from the perimeter,” Lebo said. “But we just haven’t been consistent like we’d like from there.”

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Auburn (11-7, 1-3 SEC) vs. Arkansas (12-4, 0-3)
Where: Bud Walton Arena; Fayetteville, Ark.
When: 12 p.m
TV/Radio: Raycom Sports (Channel 12)/WXMA 97.7 FM
Scouting report: The Razorbacks have victories over Big 12 powers Oklahoma and Texas under their belt, but have struggled in conference play. Arkansas is 0-3 in the SEC and has not exactly stayed close in its losses to Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Florida. A key matchup to watch will be between post players Korvotney Barber and Arkansas center Micahel Washington. Washington leads the SEC in rebounding and could cause the undersized problems, a la Kentucky’s Patrick Patterson on Wednesday.
Projected starters Auburn: F Korvotney Barber (12.4 ppg, 8.5 rpg), G Rasheem Barrett (7.6 ppg, 2.88 rpg), G DeWayne Reed (13.9 ppg, 3.7 apg), G Quantez Robertson (6.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg), G Tay Waller (12.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg)
Projected starters Arkansas: C Michael Washington (17.3 ppg, 10.3 rpg), F Michael Sanchez (6.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg), G Courtney Fortson (14.7 ppg, 6.4 apg), G Stefan Welsh (12.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg), G Rotnei Clarke (10.8 ppg, 1.8 rpg)