A revenge game for Kentucky? See what the Cats had to say about matchup with Auburn.
Takeaways from Friday’s interviews previewing Kentucky’s game against Auburn on Saturday:
▪ Ashton Hagans played down the idea of revenge even though Auburn eliminated UK from last year’s NCAA Tournament and beat UK earlier this season. He said UK needed to “stay locked in” and treat it like any other game.
▪ Kentucky can clinch the SEC regular-season championship by beating Auburn. That’s been brought up, Hagans said. But, UK Coach John Calipari seemed almost uninterested. “It means we won the league, I guess,” he said.
▪ UK wants Hagans to not take as many risks on offense, Calipari said. That Hagans is taking risks and committing turnovers “tells me maybe he’s a little mentally tired,” Calipari said.
▪ Hagans was repeatedly asked if he’d want to take a game off. He said he would not. He spoke of the good “vibe” he gets from his teammates.
▪ Calipari said he had not spoken to former UK player Malik Monk, who has been suspended by the NBA for violating the league’s anti-drug policy. Calipari said he did not know any of the particulars about the suspension, and said the news was “a little bit surprising.”
Saturday
No. 15 Auburn at No. 8 Kentucky
When: 3:45 p.m.
TV: CBS-27
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Records: Auburn 24-4 (11-4 SEC); Kentucky 23-5 (13-2 SEC)
Series: UK leads 94-21
Last meeting: Auburn won 75-66 on Feb. 1 in Auburn, Ala.
This story was originally published February 28, 2020 at 3:00 PM.
