The past two SEC games have to be much more encouraging than the three previous for Tony Barbee and his Auburn team, even though the result of all five has been the same.

The undersized, inexperienced Tigers (7-12, 0-5 SEC) stuck with — and even led — Florida for most of the game Thursday before giving up two crushing 3-pointers and falling 45-40.

Auburn was again competitive two days later against rival Alabama, switching the lead 19 times with the Crimson Tide before going ice cold for a 4-minute stretch and falling 68-58.

The Tigers, it seems, are getting closer. It just hasn’t shown up in the win column yet.

“The thing that we are trying to do as a staff is stay positive and upbeat,” Barbee said. “When you do that, the kids sense that. If you show frustration or any sense that you are letting down in terms of your intensity as a coach or a staff, then the players feel that as well.

“We’ve been very good the last two games, but at the end of the day, this isn’t baseball. You are not going to pitch many shutouts in college basketball, and at the end of the day, you have to score the ball.”

Auburn has struggled immensely to “score the ball” since it entered conference play.

The Tigers are averaging 54.6 points per game in the SEC and shooting only 35.2 percent.

They went through a 4:07 scoreless drought in the final 5 minutes against Alabama, without a point for the final 6:51 of the first half against Florida and scoreless for 5:42 as Mississippi State was blowing them out in the first half last Sunday.

Zero points in a crucial span of 16:40 over the past three games.

Like Barbee said after the Alabama loss, it’s the “theme of the season.”

“We’ve just got to get a screen here, make a shot here,” forward Kenny Gabriel said after the Alabama loss. “We need to start getting some and-1’s on the offense end when we’re close by the basket. We need to start putting it in the rim.”

Arkansas (12-6, 2-3), which the Tigers take on tonight at 8 p.m., has laid a couple of eggs itself this year, scoring 53 in a loss to LSU, 46 in a loss to Texas and, most recently, 43 in a 32-point loss to Florida on Saturday.

Leading scorer Rotnei Clarke (12.3 ppg), is averaging only 7.6 points in five SEC contests.

“The reason why he is struggling to score is because of how all the teams are playing him defensively,” Barbee said. “He is such a threat because of his ability not only to shoot the ball, we know how well he shoots the ball with range, but he can score it. He is a dangerous deep-range shooter, but he can score the ball also.

“You watch in their last few games, they are sticking a defender on him, and that defender is not concerned about anything else that is happening on the floor with Arkansas’ offense … He is that dangerous. Hopefully, we can continue to keep his struggles going.”

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Where: Bud Walton Arena
When: 8 p.m.
Radio/TV: WKKR (97.7 FM)/ESPNU
Projected starters, Auburn: F Allen Payne, 6-6, Fr. (5.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.2 spg); F Kenny Gabriel, 6-8, Jr. (9.9 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.2 bpg); F Rob Chubb, 6-10, So. (7.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 0.8 bpg); G Chris Denson, 6-2, Fr. (2.0 ppg, 0.9 rpg, 1.1 apg); G Josh Wallace, 5-10, So. (5.4 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 4.2 apg)
Projected starters, Arkansas: F Delvon Johnson, 6-9, Sr. (10.8 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 3.6 bpg); F Marshawn Powell, 6-7, So. (10.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 0.7 apg); G Rotnei Clarke, 6-0, Jr. (12.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.3 apg); G Julysses Nobles, 6-1, So. (8.6 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 3.3 apg); G Jeff Peterson, 6-0, Jr. (7.1 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 2.3 apg)