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The ‘Cats fell to the No. 1 Auburn Tigers by a score of 94-78 in Rupp Arena on Saturday afternoon. It was just the 3rd all-time win by Auburn at Rupp Arena, and the first since 1988. The game was controlled by the Tigers for the entire afternoon, with the score never getting closer than 6-points after the 5-minute mark in the first half. The ‘Cats wont be taking many positives forward following this performance, with numerous mental lapses and untimely turnovers plaguing the ‘Cats for much of the game. Andrew Carr was a bright spot for the ‘Cats, turning in his best performance since returning from his back injury. Carr scored 20 points on Saturday. Koby Brea led Kentucky scorers with 21-points, with much of his production coming in garbage time down the stretch. The Tigers offense was led by Miles Kelly, who finished with a game-high 30-points on 9 of 14 shooting from beyond the arc. The game was officiated very poorly throughout the afternoon, with the crew of Joe Lindsay, KB Burdett Jr., and Chuck Jones. There were 44 fouls called in the game, with no players fouling out. The teams combined to shot 69 free-throws in the game. Overall, Mark Pope and the ‘Cats will likely throw this performance out and “burn the film.” They look to get back on track next Tuesday against the LSU Tigers on Senior Night.
The spread for Saturday afternoons matchup against Auburn was -4.5 (Auburn). The Over/Under points total was set at 166.5.
The starting lineup for the ‘Cats featured Lamont Butler, Otega Oweh, Koby Brea, Andrew Carr, and Amari Williams.
Game Recap:
First Half
Auburn won the tip and nailed a corner three to open the scoring with Kelly. Carr found a loose ball and pulled up for a mid-range jumper for the first Kentucky points. Oweh doubled Broome and came up with a steal. Brea missed his first three of the game on the next trip down. Williams found Oweh cutting for a nice pass and finish for a 4-3 ‘Cats lead. Jones hit two free-throws at the line after a Butler shooting foul. Garrison turned it over and Kelly drove in for a transition layup. Oweh attacked the basket and was fouled. Auburn led 7-4 at the first media timeout. Oweh hit both free-throws. Kelly nailed his second three of the game, then Perry turned the ball over and fouled Baker-Mazara for an and-one to make the score 13-6 Auburn. Oweh lost the handle on a Brea pass as the ‘Cats turned the ball over again. Kelly banked in his third three of the game to make it 16-6 Auburn. He then came back down the floor and banked in another three off the glass. Butler responded with an air-ball on a three with Kentucky trailing 19-6. Chandler stole the ball and Williams ended the scoring drought for Kentucky. Oweh fouled Pettiford and he went to the line to hit both free-throws. Williams was fouled and went to the line. He went on to hit 1 of 2 at the line. Carr posted up and was fouled on a shot. Auburn led 21-9 with 11:50-minutes to play in the first half. Carr hit both free-throws to bring the score to 21-11 Auburn. Baker-Mazara scored on a floater on the next Auburn trip. Williams went up and scored over Cardwell an was awarded with an and-one opportunity. Williams hit the free-throw. Baker-Mazara nailed a long jumper over Brea. Butler stole the ball and scored a transition layup. Baker-Mazara then responded with an and-one chance on the next trip down the floor. Willims threw the ball away on the next Kentucky possession for another turnover. Willimas drove the ball to the rim and scored with an and-one opportunity. Williams hit the free-throw to make it 27-19 Auburn. Williams collected a rebound and pushed the ball to Brea who drove it in for a slam to make the score 27-21 Auburn with 8:52-minutes to play in the half. Jones banked a floater in to end the Kentucky run out of a timeout. Kelly nailed his 5th three of the game but Brea responded with his first of the game. Butler drove the ball to the pain and was fouled on a shot. Auburn led 34-26 with 6:38-minutes to play in the half. Butler hit both free-throws. Broome and Garrison were called for a double-foul and Kentucky retained possession. Pettiford hit a floater. Carr was fouled trying to post-up and went to the line for free-throws. Carr hit both free-throws to make the score 36-30 Auburn. Carr fouled Pettiford on a three-point attempt. Pettiford hit 2 of 3 from the line. Carr was held again and went back to the line. He hit 1 of 2 from the line. Oweh picked up his third foul with 5-minutes left in the half. Auburn led 38-31 at the under 4-minute media timeout. Williams was called for a questionable foul on Broome. Broome hit 1 of 2 at the line. Williams hit 1 of 2 at the line to make the score 39-32 Auburn. Pettiford nailed a deep three to push the Auburn lead to 10. Butler was called for a Flagrant 1 while shooting a layup to give Auburn two free-throws and the ball. Butler was bodied on a shot with no foul call on the next possession and Baker-Mazara hit a step-back three to push the score to 47-32 Auburn. Williams hit two free-throws after another foul call. Baker-Mazara collected an offensive rebound and put it back up and in and Kentucky finished the half with the last possession. Williams collected a rebound off a missed Brea three and went to the line after a foul. He missed both free-throws to end the half and Kentucky trailed 49-34 at the half.
It was a very disheartening half for the ‘Cats. A cold shooting 33% from the floor and just 11% (1 of 9) from beyond the arc left many scoring opportunities coming up short in the half. There were an astounding 23 foul calls in the half and a combined 34 free-throws by both teams. Kentucky went 15 of 20 from the line in the half. Auburn, on the other hand, shot 50% from the floor and 44% (7 of 16) from the three-point line, with 2 of those threes being banked in on consecutive possessions. Williams led the scoring for Kentucky in the half with 12 points and 9 rebounds in 18 minutes of action in the half. Kentucky will look to turn up the defensive intensity and combat questionable foul calls in the second half while working to get more open shots and scoring opportunities.
Halftime: Kentucky 34 – Auburn 49
Second Half
The ‘Cats began the second half with the ball and turned the ball over on a Butler drive to the basket. Carr stole the ball and Butler was fouled on a set cut to the basket in the half-court offensive set. Butler hit 1 of 2 at the line. Broome scored his first field goal of the game on a drive to the basket. Butler again was fouled on a layup attempt. Butler hit both free-throws to make the score 51-37 Auburn. Oweh was thrown to the ground and called ofr a walk on his drive to the basket. Williams lost the ball and Pettiford threw down a transition slam. Lamont Butler turned the ball over then Brea dribbled the ball off his foot for back-to-back turnovers. Pettiford hit two free-throws at the line following a Kentucky foul. Pope took a timeout with the ‘Cats trailing 55-37 after another unforced turnover by Brea and the ‘Cats. Brea hit a pull up long jumper. Kelly hit a three and was fouled on the other end for Auburn. Auburn led 58-39 with 15:59-minutes to play in the game with Kentucky out of sorts to start the second half. Carr hit a post-up shot in the paint. Kelly them hit another three at the top of the key, his 7th of the game. Brea was fouled and went to the line for two shots. He hit both free-throws to make the score 62-43 Auburn. Auburn nailed a three and Brea responded with a three of his own. Brea hit another three off a pump fake. Almonor tipped a missed Butler three to Brea for a score and the foul. Brea made the free-throw to bring the score to 68-52 Auburn. Kentucky was in the bonus for fouls with 12-minutes left in the game. Chandler was fouled and hit both free-throws. Kentucky trailed 70-54 with 11:38-minutes to play. Butler drove it in for an easy score. Butler drove in and scored again to make it 71-58 Auburn. The officials then called a shooting foul when Pettiford was trying to pass the ball to the corner, he hit both free-throws. Baker-Mazara picked up his fourth foul and sent Williams to the line. Williams missed the front end of the one and one. Kelly nailed his 8th three of the game. Butler turned it over and Auburn scored in transition. Oweh tried to dribble around and threw up a bad mid-range jumper. Kentucky trailed by 20, 78-58 with 8-minutes to play. Carr scored in the post. Carr drove in and scored again over a defender. Butler stole a loose ball and was fouled in transition. Butler hit both free-throws to make the score 79-64 Auburn. Chandler took a pass and Carr finished his miss in transition. Broome backed Williams down and converted just his third field goal of the game to bring the score to 83-67 Auburn with 5-minutes to play. Carr scored in the paint again to bring the deficit to 14. Auburn turned the ball over on the next trip down the floor. Pettiford drove past the Kentucky defender and scored an easy layup at the basket to bring the score to 87-70 with just under 3-minutes to play. Brea nailed a step-back three. The game wound down following another Kelly three and the ‘Cats went on to fall to the No. 1 Auburn Tigers by a score of 94-78.
Final: Kentucky 78 – Auburn 94
Game Stats:
Auburn FG %: 52% (46% 3PT – 12 of 26) (77% FT – 24 of 31)
Kentucky FG %: 46% (24% 3PT – 4 of 17) (74% FT – 28 of 38)
Rebounds: 38 – 23 Auburn
Assist/Turnover Ratio: 12:18
Turnovers: UK (18), Auburn (8)
Bench Points: 29 – 5 Auburn
Points off Turnovers: 21 – 9 Auburn
Fast Break Points: 22 – 10 Auburn
Paint Points: 34 – 26 Kentucky
Player Stats:
Koby Brea – [(21 points) (6 rebounds) (1 assist)]
Andrew Carr – [(20 points) (2 rebounds) (1 assist) (1 steal)]
Lamont Butler – [(15 points) (2 rebounds) (1 steal)]
Amari Williams – [(13 points) (14 rebounds) (7 assists) (6 turnovers)]
Otega Oweh – [(4 points) (1 assist) (1 steal)]
Collin Chandler – [(4 points) (2 rebounds) (1 steal)]
Brandon Garrison – [(1 point) (1 block) (1 steal)]
Trent Noah – [(3 rebounds)]
Ansley Almonor – [ (2 rebounds) (1 assist)]
Travis Perry – [(1 rebound) (1 assist)]
Next Game:
The ‘Cats (19-10, 8-8 SEC) will return to Rupp Arena for the final home game of the season to take on the LSU Tigers (14-14, 3-12 SEC) on Tuesday, March 4. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. EST. The game will be televised on ESPN 2.
