Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s loss at Auburn
Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s 75-66 loss at Auburn on Saturday:
1. Kentucky lost the game on the glass, not at the foul line
Sure, there’s a lot made of the all hose free throws Auburn shot on Saturday. The Tigers were 33 of 44 from the foul line after Kentucky was called for 29 personal fouls compared to just 20 for the home team. UK was 20 of 24 from the line, so Auburn made more fouls shots than the Wildcats attempted.
But, said Kentucky Coach John Calipari afterward, “The difference was the offensive rebounding, and that comes down to toughness.”
The host Tigers outrebounded the visitors 42-28. Auburn pulled down 17 offensive rebounds compared to just 25 defensive rebounds for the Cats. Auburn’s 6-foot-11 center, Austin Wiley, grabbed seven offensive rebounds while UK’s Nick Richards finished with seven points and seven boards.
“I thought Austin hung in there with Nick Richards,” Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl said. “And Richards has been dominating people.”
The fact of the matter is that is just not the dominant rebounding team that we have seen from Calipari in the past. Richards has been stacking double-doubles, but when he struggles, as he did Saturday for the first time in a long time, he doesn’t get the help he needs around the glass. For example, EJ Montgomery finished with just two points and four rebounds in 17 minutes. Nate Sestina finished with all of one rebound in 18 minutes. Freshman Keion Brooks had two rebounds in 22 minutes.
That’s also why Auburn could shoot just 35.3 percent for the game, make only six of 23 three-point attempts and still win the game.
Yes, the fouls hurt, but the lack of board work hurt more.
2. Bruce Pearl should bottle his strategy against Ashton Hagans
In the Midwest Region finals of last season’s NCAA Tournament, Hagans committed seven turnovers and, his eyes red, blamed himself for the loss during interviews in the postgame locker room after Auburn’s 77-71 overtime win, which earned the Tigers their first trip to the Final Four.
Saturday, Hagans wasn’t much better. He scored just five points and committed six turnovers before fouling out with 3:36 left after playing 21 minutes.
“Possessions matter,” said Calipari afterward, noting that while UK plays with three point guards, it needs Hagans. “Tyrese (Maxey) is not ready to run a team yet.”
Maxey did his part from the scoring end, pumping in 22 points. And Immanuel Quickley led all scorers with 23 points. A magician on drives through traffic to the hoop, Maxey made it to the foul line 12 times, where he hit 10. Quickley was six of 13 from the field, made nine of 10 free throws, and finished with 23 points before fouling out with 54 seconds left.
But Hagans’ battle with foul trouble and turnovers surely hurt the Cats’ cause. Saddled with foul trouble and Auburn constantly driving to the basket, Calipari was forced to go to a zone in the second half. That works at Arkansas. Not so much Saturday.
“We knew if Hagans and Nick Richards had big games, they beat us,” Pearl said. “It’s out of respect that we game-planned for Ashton.”
The game plan worked.
3. Kentucky almost made it through the road gauntlet, almost
After clearing two high hurdles, these Cats tripped on the third. They stared down a loud crowd at Arkansas, beating the Razorbacks 73-66 even after Calipari got tossed. Then last Saturday, deep in the heart of Texas, they outlasted the rocking Red Raiders 76-74 in overtime.
Auburn was another story. Calipari is now 1-3 against Pearl inside Auburn Arena, which was standing-room only with the students on their feet all around the top row of the balcony seats. It was loud, as you knew it would be. And Auburn, is well, pretty good, now 19-2 overall and 6-2 in the SEC. Kentucky is also 6-2.
Kentucky returns home on Tuesday, but the task doesn’t get much easier. Just when you were ready to write off Ben Howland, Mississippi State is maybe the hottest team in the SEC. At least outside of LSU. The Bulldogs have won five straight league games, including an 86-73 victory over Tennessee on Saturday.
And just as Calipari said his team got out-toughed at Auburn, Mississippi State lies on toughness. Sophomore forward Reggie Perry is averring 16.9 points and 10 rebounds per game. Overall, Mississippi State is No. 2 in the nation in offensive rebound percentage at 39.9 percent. That’s right, No. 2 in the entire nation — facing a team that just gave up 17 offensive rebounds to Auburn.
“They push us around like we got pushed around today,” said Calipari, “it’s going to be a hard one for us.”
This story was originally published February 1, 2020 at 10:00 PM.
