Three-point shooting is not a constant, but successful teams seem to find some semblance of long-range consistency as the postseason approaches.

You can look at a stat sheet and see who’s prolific and who’s struggling beyond the arc, but it’s not a facet a player, coach or team can necessarily rely on every night, Arkansas coach John Pelphrey believes.

“ If you’re a 35 percent 3-point shooter, which is about average in college basketball, you’re dealing with failure 65 percent of the time, ” he said. “ It’s a game. It’s not an exact science. Some times the thing doesn’t go in. ”

Arkansas (20-10, 9-7 SEC ) did a pretty good job, though, relying heavily on the trifecta Saturday against Auburn. Led by Patrick Beverley’s 6-for-6 performance, the Razorbacks connected on 10 of 19 three-pointers in a 77-64 win. The sophomore’s perfection was obviously a good sign to Pelphrey, who admitted to desiring two outside shooters as the postseason fast approaches.

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But, again, Pelphrey knocked the idea of 3-point shooting being a consistent section of Arkansas’ offensive repertoire. The coach has yet to find solidification outside the arc, he said, heading into their second-round game in the SEC Tournament on Friday.

“ I think it’s all timely. Do I think we’ve got it all figured out ? ” Pelphrey asked. “ No. Do I think our chances increase if we get multiple guys making perimeter shots ? Yes. ”

To find success outside the paint, Pelphrey continued, Arkansas must find confidence and role players under the basket.

“ We’re going to need some play, some production up front out of someone besides Darian (Townes ), ” the first-year UA coach continued. “ We’re going to need our point guards to continue to show progress. ”

Townes has slowly and quietly become a force in the Arkansas lineup. After coming off the bench for the entire season, Pelphrey inserted the forward into the starting lineup against Vanderbilt on March 1, and Townes has continued his offensive explosion in SEC games. The senior has hit 61 percent of his field goals in conference games and scored 12 points and grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds against Auburn on Saturday.

His presence, and with the development of a second option down low in either Steven Hill, Charles Thomas, Vincent Hunter or Michael Washington, Arkansas could prove to be dangerous in the postseason.

“ We’ll be real dangerous, ” Townes reiterated. “ With [Beverley ] shooting from the arc, it’ll open it up for everybody. It’ll be hard to stop. ”

Beverley has connected on 14 of 21 three-pointers in the last three games after struggling mightily the week prior. The offensive recovery came after abysmal performances against LSU, Kentucky and Alabama. During that stretch, the sophomore failed to reach double digits in scoring and hit just 6 of 25 shots from the field.

But numbers like those seen Saturday — a seasonhigh 27 points and 9-of-11 shooting from the field — typically brings out the word “ dangerous” quite a bit in the Razorbacks locker room when describing their postseason presence.

Whether or not Arkansas has life beyond the conference tournament and gets its chance at a first-round game in the NCAA Tournament remains to be seen, however.

Prognosticators do seem to be on the Hogs’ side. According to the Web site The Bracket Project, 53 out of 53 “ bracketologists, ” ranging from ESPN to the Sporting News, have Arkansas in the NCAA Tournament as of Sunday night.

But don’t ask Pelphrey if he thinks the Hogs will get into the Big Dance. He’s not the predicting type.

“ I don’t know. That’s for somebody else to debate, ” he said Saturday. “ I don’t have a crystal ball. I don’t know. I’ll let our play do the talking. It’s somebody else’s decision. ”

If the Hogs and Beverley’s shooting streak do make it, expect some fireworks, Arkansas senior guard Gary Ervin said.

“ We’re going to be very dangerous [in the postseason ], ” the point guard said. “ For [Beverley ] to get the same looks, his confidence is sky-high right now … That’s the biggest thing — to have some confidence. ”

The road to confidence and offensive consistency, Pelphrey will tell you, stems from the play of the point guards. And Arkansas’ rising star echoes that sentiment.

“ I think our point guards make everybody better, ” Beverley said. “ Our bigs, when they get double-teamed, they kick it out. We’re just doing our jobs and getting open shots. If we can just keep doing what we’re doing defensively, it’ll roll over in SEC (Tournament ) play. ”