LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Auburn students started lining up Wednesday to get into Neville Arena for Saturday’s showdown against No. 22-ranked Kentucky. Tigers coach Bruce Pearl was mic’d up. College GameDay was broadcasting on site all day.
In other words, just another SEC road game for the Wildcats. Final score: Kentucky 70, Auburn 59. Not-quite-final verdict: Don’t count out these Wildcats just yet.
The challenge of this road test for Kentucky was particularly difficult, and not just because of the national spotlight, which included a lengthy GameDay discussion on just what is wrong with Kentucky. Turns out, on Saturday, not too much.
Kentucky guard Rob Dillingham (0) shoots next to Auburn guard Denver Jones (12) during the first half an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, in Auburn, Ala. (AP Photo/Julie Bennett)
Auburn was 13-0 at home coming in, with a 16-game home winning streak stretching back to last season. Its past two wins at home — against ranked opponents and SEC leaders Alabama and South Carolina — had been by an average of 29 points.
But Alabama had only 29 points in the first half. This game was a Kentucky flex. The Wildcats were everything coach John Calipari asked them to be. They were tougher on defense. They were more physical. They were the aggressor. They got to 50-50 balls. They controlled the boards. And they did all of it without senior transfer starter Tre Mitchell.
"If Kentucky guards like this," Pearl said, "they can beat anybody. . . . They were more physical. There were a couple plays that I’m going to send into the league. They were real physical. But that’s what happens … When kids get challenged about not playing hard, well then they go play hard. They play physically.”
Auburn made a second-half run. It pulled within five points with just over 12 minutes to play. But Kentucky calmly re-established itself and maintained its edge, pulling out to a 16-point lead with just over six minutes to play.
But Kentucky got exemplary offensive play from senior Antionio Reeves, who took over offensively after Auburn’s last threat, closing to within nine in the final minutes. He finished with 22 points on 8 of 19 shooting. Kentucky also got a career-best game, given the opposition and situation, from Adou Theiro, who finished with 14 points and eight rebounds. Rob Dillingham added 11 points.
The other hero, and certainly the biggest, was big man Ugonna Onyenso, who one game after breaking a Rupp Arena record with 10 blocked shots, stood his ground against Auburn big man Johni Broome. He scored only seven points and blocked only two shots, but pulled down 11 rebounds and made life difficult in the paint for Auburn, and his 36 minutes played were the most on the court for either team.
The Tigers, to put it bluntly, couldn’t hit the broad side of Jordan Hare Stadium. They made just 4 of 22 three-point attempts. They shot 38 percent for the game. And as the game wore on, they got more frustrated against a Kentucky team that has been a much different defensive animal the past two weeks.
"They defended," Calipari said of his team. "All the things I've been talking about. They knew what they had to do, and went out and did it. ... Today, Ugo and Adou were unbelievable. Both of them played great. . . . What did you see today? What could you write? 'They are so bad defensively.' That's a top-10 offense today. . . . I've never seen a crowd like that, not even in our building."
Since losing at home to Gonzaga, Kentucky has jumped an impressive 45 spots in defensive efficiency (a stat pointed out by Kyle Tucker of The Athletic).
Kentucky since the Gonzaga game last Saturday has gone from 126th to 103rd to now 81st in defensive efficiency. Wild to swing 45 spots in a week.
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_ATH) February 18, 2024
Bruce Pearl just walked in, threw up his hands, said: "Kentucky can guard. They can turn it up when they want to."
This was a grown-up version of the young Kentucky team that swatted away North Carolina early in the season. This was a Kentucky team that made gritty plays and seemed to come up with every big contested ball.
One possession early in the second half typified Kentucky's effort. With the ball ping-ponging around the court as Auburn desperately tried to create a turnover after cutting its deficit to nine, Kentucky's Theiro came up with it on the baseline and slammed it home to put Kentucky back up 11.
At the end of the night, Auburn's jungle, for the first time all season, was silent.
And Kentucky's Wildcats, in a different way than they have all season, were roaring.
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