FINAL: No. 1 Auburn steamrolls No. 17 Kentucky 94-78 in Rupp Arena

Bruce Pearl’s Auburn Tigers justified their number one ranking Saturday in Lexington.

No. 1 Auburn (27-2; 15-1 SEC) steamrolled No. 17 Kentucky (19-10; 8-8 SEC) inside Rupp Arena by a final score of 94-78. Four different Wildcats scored 10 or more points, led by 21 points from Koby Brea and 20 more from Andrew Carr, but an ugly 4-17 clip from distance and 18 turnovers cost UK any shot at the upset. Amari Williams finished with 13 points, 14 rebounds, and seven assists while Lamont Butler added 15 points.

Even without a great game from National Player of the Year candidate Johni Broome (nine points, six rebounds), Auburn’s talented role players helped out plenty. Miles Kelly was especially deadly with a season-high 30 points (9-14 3PT) for the Tigers. Chad Baker-Mazara (22 points) and Tahaad Pettiford (21) also finished in double-figures as Auburn shot 51.8 percent as a team and 12-26 from beyond the arc.

Kentucky was without Jaxson Robinson due to a wrist injury, but his scoring punch likely wouldn’t have been enough to make the difference in this one. UK managed to outrebound Auburn by 15, but lost in nearly every other important statistical category. This marks the Tigers’ first win in Rupp Arena since 1988.

Kentucky kept it close with Auburn in the opening segment. It wasn’t until some substitutions before the first media timeout that the Tigers began to build a lead. Back-to-back banked threes from Kelly, who shot 5-9 from deep in the opening half, were massive morale killers. Auburn was already up to a 13-point advantage before six minutes could run off the clock. But Kentucky, led by a great effort from Williams, would eventually settle in.

UK did enough to chip the Auburn lead down to as few as six points on multiple occasions, but couldn’t seem to get the deficit any smaller. The Tigers always had timely answers that grew the lead back out to double-digits. Kentucky would go cold at the worst possible time, too. The ‘Cats missed 10 straight field goals across the final 7:21 of the half as Auburn took a 49-34 lead into the break.

Williams actually owned the battle against Broome, posting 12 points, nine rebounds, and three assists through 20 minutes. Meanwhile, Broome was sitting on one point (1-5 FG) and five rebounds. But Auburn had other contributors. Kelly (17 points), Baker-Mazara (16), and Pettiford (11) were tough covers in the first half for UK’s defense. A 1-9 mark from deep plus 10 turnovers for the ‘Cats didn’t help either.

It would only get worse for Kentucky too. Six turnovers in the opening three minutes of the second half, most of them unforced, helped Auburn build a 20-point lead. The Tigers would go up by as many as 22 points before Brea began to knock in some shots. UK would get as close as 13 points with 10 minutes still left in regulation but the Tigers responded with seven straight points, effectively ending the game as fans began to head for the exits.

To add insult to injury (or put fans out of their misery, whichever you prefer), the ABC live stream went out midway through the second half and did not return. While it prevented the referees from making another trip to the monitor (there were plenty of them), it didn’t prevent Auburn from piling it on. The Tigers led this game for over 39 minutes en route to a dominant 16-point victory.