Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s title-clinching win over Auburn
Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s 73-66 win over the Auburn Tigers on Saturday at Rupp Arena:
1. Kentucky wins yet another SEC regular-season title
John Calipari tried to downplay that accomplishment when he talked to the media on Friday, saying his goals are always bigger than that. And he’s right. This team, as all Kentucky basketball teams, will be judged on what happens after Selection Sunday, which is just two weeks away.
Still, considering where this team was in the non-conference portion of the campaign, it’s notable that this team was able to wrap up the conference crown with two games to play. After all, remember, this team lost to Evansville. Yes, Evansville, the team that Saturday lost its regular-season finale to go 0-18 in the MVC, becoming the first team to beat an AP No. 1 team and then not win a conference game.
“You know what’s amazing,” said Calipari on Saturday, “when anybody talks about our season, you know what they say? Evansville, Evansville, Evansville. I’m like, ‘Are you talking about the game November 12th where EJ (Montgomery) did not play in the game and Ashton (Hagans) was sick and so was Nick (Richards) and we played with two guys with the flu? That game?”
This team has come many miles since that shocking night. They’ve come so far that after its eighth straight victory, the losing coach, Auburn’s Bruce Pearl “very undervalued.”
“I really like Kentucky’s team,” Pearl said. “I really like their coach. They did an amazing job. I think they are very undervalued. I’ll tell you right now, if we don’t play them again, I am rooting for them. I am rooting for them to go a long way.”
They’ve already come a long way.
2. Immanuel Quickley finds another way to shine
The sophomore guard has been on an elongated roll, climbing to the top of the SEC Player of the Year candidate list. He scored a career-high 26 points in last Saturday’s win over Florida. He topped that with a career-high 30 points in the Wildcats’ road win over Texas A&M on Tuesday night.
Saturday, Quickley was just three of 10 from the floor. He missed four of his five three-point shots. Ah, but if you think the Maryland native had a bad game, you couldn’t have been more mistaken.
Quickley was his usual automatic self at the foul line, going a perfect 11-for-11 at the stripe. On a stellar season, he’s 141 of 153 at the line for 92.2 percent. One of the bigger plays of Saturday’s game came when, with UK clinging to a 55-53 lead with 9:31 left, IQ (in more ways than one) drew an Auburn foul while attempting a three-pointer. He stepped to he line and made all three foul shots. Of course.
But Quickley’s biggest contribution came on the boards. The 6-foot-3 guard grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds. All came at the defensive end, considering that in Auburn’s 75-66 win over the Cats at Auburn Arena on Feb. 1, the Tigers grabbed 17 offensive rebounds. Saturday, they had 12 out of 43 possible offensive boards.
“We didn’t have quite as many second-chance points as we did before,” Pearl said.
Said Quickley, “I’m just trying to find ways to help us win.”
3. Ashton Hagans’ good outweighed his bad
Kentucky’s sophomore point guard had a mixed bag of a game. He cut down on his turnovers, committing just one in 34 minutes. He also made three steals while being a pest to Auburn’s offense throughout the game.
Yet, Hagans made just two of 13 shots. He missed all three of his three-point attempts. And again there were several occasions where Hagans appeared to be driving to the bucket without any real feel of where he was on the floor or what he was trying to accomplish.
“I know when Ashton went 2-for-13, but when he goes five assists, one turnover, three steals and he defends — we will win. He can go 2-for-13. The only person it bothers? Him. And his head goes down and, ‘I can’t believe it. I missed this dunk.’ Forget it. For our team, it really doesn’t matter.”
Hagans’ teammates can score. Quickley, obviously. With Richards in first-half foul trouble, Sestina came off the bench and gave the team a huge boost. He finished with 11 points. And reserve forward Keion Brooks did much more than his four points and three rebounds in 13 minutes might suggest.
If this Kentucky team is going to make a deep March run, Hagans has to make good decisions. He might not have shot well Saturday and some of his shots were forced, but he was smart in other areas, ones that Calipari believes are essential to his team.
This story was originally published February 29, 2020 at 8:12 PM.
