John Calipari praises Auburn ahead of matchup: "Really hard game"

Auburn enters the day ranked No. 2 in the polls, with the Tigers boasting a top-15 offense (No. 15) and top-10 defense (No. 8) in the latest KenPom ratings. They’ve got the likely No. 1 overall pick in Jabari Smith, who averages a team-high 15.8 points per contest to go with 6.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.0 blocks. Four players average double figures in scoring, with another four averaging at least five points per game.

Needless to say, it’ll be a test for the No. 12 Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday.

“They’re all tough matchups,” John Calipari said Friday. “They’re long. They’re big. (Wendell) Green is good with the ball and shoots it. So, they’re tough matchups. Look, we’re going into a hostile environment. I mean, it’s going to be a really hard game.”

Individually, Calipari sees 7-foot-1 center Walker Kessler as a clear threat in the middle for Auburn, separating himself as one of the top bigs in all of college basketball.

“Well, he’s playing more minutes so he’s getting an opportunity to do stuff,” Calipari said. “But the minutes he got at North Carolina were based on the other big kids they had. They had really good big players. But more minutes you’re seeing – they’re doing good stuff of running him to the rim for lobs, he’s blocking balls. He’s good. I mean, obviously he’s one of the best big men in the country and it’ll be a tough challenge for us.”

Kentucky being able to win the way it did at Texas A&M gives Calipari confidence going into today’s matchup, though. The Wildcats found a way to win ugly against a strong SEC team.

He hopes they continue to show that same fight at Auburn on Saturday.

“For us, we continue to learn about our team,” Calipari said. “You know that in the last game we shot 36% and won and I’m ecstatic because you need to know that when you don’t shoot it well you can still win. You’ll figure out a way. That means you have fighters on the court. If a guy wasn’t fighting, you can’t be out there. We’re not making shots. We’ve got to win another way.

“I always tell these guys; you’re being evaluated not how many points you scored. That’s eighth grade. It’s what do you do to help this team win and especially when you’re not scoring. Well, you do nothing? That’s how you’re evaluated. So, we’ve got a bunch of guys that have a great mindset. It’s going to be a hard game.”

Kentucky will tip-off against Auburn at 1 p.m. ET on CBS.