Five things you need to know from No. 22 Kentucky’s 70-59 win over No. 13 Auburn
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Game day: No. 22 Kentucky 70, No. 13 Auburn 59
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Auburn at Auburn, Alabama.
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Five things you need to know from No. 22 Kentucky’s 70-59 win over No. 13 Auburn in men’s SEC basketball at Neville Arena:
1. An Antonio Reeves masterpiece. In a grind-it-out game when baskets are hard to come by in a brutal road environment, Kentucky’s Reeves did what a team’s super-senior leader should do:
He took over in the game’s decisive stretch and got buckets.
Auburn had cut a 43-29 UK lead to 47-42 with 13:11 left in the game.
In response, Reeves went to work.
His driving layup pushed the Kentucky advantage back to 49-42.
After Auburn answered, Reeves scored on a reverse layup off a Rob Dillingham pass to put Kentucky ahead 51-44 with 11:10 left.
The Kentucky lead was 53-46 when Reeves scored on another contested layup with 9:10 left. He followed that with a 3-pointer at 8:38 that pushed the UK lead back to double digits, 58-46.
Kentucky’s lead was still 12 when Reeves finished Auburn off with a runner at 7:18 and a follow of his own miss at 6:05 that gave the Wildcats an insurmountable 64-48 edge.
Reeves finished with a game-high 22 points on 8-for-20 shooting, making 3 of 6 treys and 3 of 5 foul shots. He also helped UK win the rebounding battle 39-36 by claiming five boards.
The epitome of a “road warrior,” Reeves is averaging 22.3 points a game in the Wildcats’ seven true away games to date.
For his two-season Kentucky career, Reeves is now up to 976 career points. He needs 24 more to become UK’s 62nd career 1,000-point scorer.
2 Thiero stands tall. In Wednesday night’s game against Mississippi, Kentucky had its full allotment of scholarship players available for the first time all season.
That lasted for all of one game.
Super-senior power forward Tre Mitchell (shoulder) missed Saturday’s contest after leaving the Ole Miss victory with an injury. Adou Thiero moved back into the starting lineup in Mitchell’s place.
To say the 6-foot-8, 222-pound Thiero made the most of his opportunity would be an understatement.
The sophomore forward contributed 14 points and eight rebounds. Thiero’s physicality and aggressiveness allows Kentucky to play with an “edge” this team has not always displayed.
3. Cats pin first home loss on Auburn. Bruce Pearl’s Tigers entered Saturday’s contest 13-0 this season at Neville Arena, on a 16-game home win streak dating back to last year and 43-2 over the past three seasons.
Before Saturday, Auburn had beaten Kentucky three times straight and five out of six on the Tigers’ home court.
UK’s victory snapped the Wildcats’ longest, current losing streak on a Southeastern Conference opponent’s home floor. Below are the current streaks for Kentucky on the home courts of all 13 other SEC teams:
▪ Alabama: Kentucky has lost one in a row.
▪ Arkansas: Won two.
▪ Auburn: Won one.
▪ Florida: Won six.
▪ Georgia: Lost one.
▪ LSU: Lost one.
▪ Mississippi: Won one.
▪ Mississippi State: Won eight.
▪ Missouri: Lost one.
▪ South Carolina: Lost one.
▪ Tennessee: Won one.
▪ Texas A&M: Lost one.
▪ Vanderbilt: Won eight.
4. Cats give a big boost to their NCAA Tournament profile. The Kentucky win at Auburn was a road victory over the team that entered Saturday No. 6 in the NCAA NET rankings.
That gives UK a third Quad 1 victory in 2025 and means Kentucky has wins over the teams that were No. 6 and No. 11 (North Carolina) in the NET entering play Saturday.
On its remaining regular-season schedule, UK will probably have three more chances for Quad 1 wins: vs. No. 5 Alabama (Feb. 24), at No 35 Mississippi State (Feb. 27) and at No. 7 Tennessee (March 9).
Kentucky will probably also have a Quad 2 opportunity at No. 92 LSU (Feb. 21), a Quad 3 game vs. No. 132 Arkansas and a Quad 4 game vs. No. 214 Vanderbilt.
5. “Morehead State” vs. Kentucky. In UK’s 79-62 loss at South Carolina on Jan. 23, ex-Morehead State guard Ta’Lon Cooper sliced and diced the Wildcats to the tune of 20 points, five rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots.
Against Auburn, UK faced another former Morehead star in center Johni Broome.
The 6-foot-10, 240-pound Broome put a double-double up against Kentucky with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Broome also blocked three shots.
Nevertheless, led by Ugonna Onyenso (seven points, 11 rebounds, two blocks) Kentucky defended Broome effectively, forcing the Auburn big man to need 13 shots (he made five) to get his 14 points.
This story was originally published February 17, 2024 at 8:53 PM.
