Kellan Grady sends message to Big Blue Nation following Auburn loss

Kentucky guard Kellan Grady isn’t concerned about the Wildcats’ 2021-22 season, despite falling 80-71 to Auburn on Saturday.

No. 2 Auburn (18-1, 10-0) may have just solidified the program’s first-ever AP No. 1 ranking with the win, as Bruce Pearl and the Tigers overcame a four-point halftime deficit en route to victory. No. 12 Kentucky (15-4, 5-2), on the other hand, was completely unable to stop Auburn’s offense in the second half, as the Tigers poured in 51 points and the Wildcats once again looked like a tale of two teams: there was the Kentucky team from last Saturday, which poured in 107 points and set several program records in an offensive clinic against Tennessee, and there was the Kentucky team from this Saturday, which flustered. None of that inconsistency seems to bother Grady, though, who believes the Wildcats’ future is bright.

“You don’t win a championship in January,” Grady said after the loss. “This obviously would have been a statement win, like the one vs. Tennessee. Disappointing but we’ve got to move on and see how we can get better.”

Grady turned in a couple season highs in the loss to Auburn. He played all 40 minutes on Saturday, a tally he had not reached in the 2021-22 season, and he dropped 17 points on 5-of-9 from the field, while adding two rebounds, one assist and two steals. Grady received extended minutes in part because the Wildcats were short with injuries; star guard TyTy Washington suffered an ankle injury in the first half, when he landed awkwardly on Oscar Tshiebwe, and he was declared out for the remainder of the game.

The fact that Kentucky kept it close without Washington, according to Grady, just “shows how good of a team we are.”

“Although we didn’t play well enough to win, I think we showed we’ve got a collective fight and grit,” Grady continued. “It’s about learning. Like I said, we want to be our best in March.”