No. 1 Auburn survived Arkansas on Wednesday night and Chaney Johnson was an important piece of that puzzle.

The veteran forward was Auburn’s third-highest scorer with 14 points, adding six rebounds and two steals while shooting 6-of-13 from the field. Johnson has reached double figures in five straight games.

“Chaney, again, has been so consistent,” AU coach Bruce Pearl said. “What you see is what you get. We had a tough matchup with Thiero, he's a handful, and we gave that matchup to Dylan and Chaney. I thought they did a pretty good job.”

Johnson had a slow start to the game, scoring just two points in the first half. He came alive when it mattered the most in the second half, however, helping the Tigers hold off the Razorbacks’ late push.

“Just glory to God, man, because I started off terrible,” Johnson said. I was like, 'God, please just allow me to stay confident and just keep on play hard.'”

Johnson was not the only Tiger who stumbled out of the gate. Shots were not falling for it as a unit early, but Auburn’s rebounding performance allowed them to remain in control. Auburn out-rebounded Arkansas 42-29 total and 13-4 on the offensive side, giving it a 16-3 advantage in second-chance points.

The Tigers’ performance on the boards allowed them to get the job done despite shooting just 16.7 percent from 3-point range.

“That was very important, because shots aren't always going to fall,” Johnson said. “I mean, being on the glass is effort. Being able to stay in front of your defender is effort. When shots are not falling, we're still able to give good effort. That keeps us in the game. Then, when we start making shots, we continue to give that effort, and it allows us to win games.”

While Johni Broome gets a lot of the credit for Auburn’s success, and rightfully so, it would not be the same team without Johnson’s consistent level of play.

Johnson and the rest of the Tigers return to action on Saturday when they host Georgia. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. CT and ESPN will carry the broadcast.