LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The University of Kentucky men's basketball team will try to clinch the program's 49th regular-season Southeastern Conference championship when the Wildcats (23-5, 13-2 SEC) host No. 15 Auburn on Saturday.
Also on the line: an eight-game winning streak and avenging a 75-66 loss to the Tigers (24-4, 11-4) on Feb. 1 in Auburn, Alabama. Adding another victory over a ranked opponent ahead of Selection Sunday wouldn't hurt, either.
"Our whole thing is, how do we get the best seed we can get?" coach John Calipari said in a news release. "If that means win games, just keep winning so you have a good seed. That's the whole thing here."
Auburn enters Saturday's game on a two-game winning streak and trailing Kentucky by two games in the SEC standings.
Player to watch: Nick Richards (junior forward)
Kentucky's Nick Richards dunks against Vanderbilt.
Auburn dominated the Wildcats in rebounding — 42-28 and 17-6 on the offensive end — during the Tigers' victory earlier this month. Senior center Austin Wiley posted a double-double, while Richards, Kentucky's premier big man, struggled to only seven points on 3-for-8 shooting and seven rebounds in 38 minutes.
“The difference was the offensive rebounds," Calipari told reporters after the loss.
Richards hasn't scored in the double digits since a Feb. 18 win at LSU. Sophomore Immanuel Quickley has been carrying the team on offense of late, but the Wildcats will need Richards to establish himself in the paint if they want to fair better than they did on the road against the Tigers.
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