SEC college basketball final: Kentucky 70, Auburn 59
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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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The No. 22-ranked Kentucky Wildcats take to the road Saturday to face the 13th-ranked Auburn Tigers in a key SEC basketball contest. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET at Neville Arena.
The game is being televised by ESPN with a crew of Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas and Jess Sims. Or you can listen to Tom Leach and Jack Givens on the UK Sports Network.
Either way, follow along with us. I’ll be at the game along with Ben Roberts and Silas Walker. Follow us on X/Twitter at @BenRobertsHL, @sigh_las and @johnclayiv.
Or you can follow a dedicated Twitter/X list by clicking here.
Final: Kentucky 70, Auburn 59
Officials for Kentucky-Auburn
Officials for Kentucky-Auburn are Officials for Kentucky-Auburn are Steven Anderson, Joe Lindsay and Vladimir Voyard-Tadal.
Anderson worked Kentucky’s games against Georgia and Vanderbilt. Lindsay worked the Penn, Illinois State, Missouri and Arkansas games. Voyard-Tadal worked the Marshall game, the game at Florida and the game vs. Tennessee.
Two big questions for Kentucky vs. Auburn
Here are two big questions about Saturday’s Kentucky-Auburn matchup.
1. How will Kentucky’s offense fare vs. Auburn’s defense?
Kentucky ranks No. 7 in adjusted offensive efficiency according to Ken Pomeroy. Auburn ranks No. 9 in that same category. Here’s the thing: While UK ranks No. 104 in adjusted defensive efficiency, Auburn ranks fourth, the only team in the nation that ranks in the top 10 on both offense and defense.
The Tigers lead the nation in two-point defense, holding opponents to 42.4% shooting from inside the arc. Bruce Pearl’s team ranks 19th in 3-point defense at 29.2%.
So how will Kentucky’s high-powered offense fare against such a stingy defense? Especially at Auburn. I wrote about Auburn’s domination of foes in Neville Arena. The Tigers are 13-0 overall in “The Jungle.” That includes a 6-0 SEC mark by an average of 22.3 points.
Kentucky does rank third nationally in 3-point shooting at 40.7%. The Cats are fifth in turnover percentage at 13.4%, even after committing 15 in their 75-63 victory over visiting Ole Miss on Tuesday.
If the Cats have any chance of winning Saturday, they have to find a way to score against the Auburn defense.
2. Can Auburn follow their Wednesday performance?
The Tigers shot a blistering 61% on their way to a 101-61 rout of South Carolina on Wednesday. Pearl’s team was darn near perfect against the 11th-ranked Gamecocks. The Tigers’ two bigs combined to go 9-for-12 from 3-point land. Jaylin Williams made five of his seven 3-point attempts. Johni Broome made 4 of 5.
You might expect a team coming off a 40-point win to experience a letdown. And that could happen. On the other hand, Kentucky is in town. And Auburn students have been camping out since Thursday in preparation for the game.
Pregame reading material
Some links for your pregame prep:
▪ Mark Story breaks down the matchups and makes a Kentucky-Auburn prediction.
▪ Ainslee Lee of AL.com writes about Auburn’s advantage playing in “The Jungle.”
▪ Cameron Drummond of the H-L reports on what Bruce Pearl had to say about playing Kentucky.
▪ Gary Parrish of CBS Sports put Auburn into the top 10 of his Top 25 and 1 after the Tigers destroyed South Carolina.
▪ Dan Wolken of USA Today says that Kentucky is stumbling toward the NCAA Tournament.
▪ Matt Cohen of AL.com on Auburn’s rise to relevancy.
▪ Ben Roberts writes about how this weekend’s NBA All-Star Game is a showcase for former UK basketball stars.
▪ Ben on what the Cats can’t do moving forward.
This story was originally published February 17, 2024 at 5:00 PM.
