BOX SCORE: Top-ranked Auburn overwhelms Kentucky

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Kentucky guard Otega Oweh - Dr. Michael Huang, Kentucky Sports Radio

Saturday afternoon was a golden opportunity for Kentucky to add another Quad 1A to their NCAA Tournament resume. Optimism was high in Rupp Arena as the Cats found themselves in a situation they have performed so well in all season.

Unfortunately, Mark Pope‘s team has no answers for Bruce Pearl‘s Auburn squad.

The Tigers scored 94 points despite getting only nine points on nine field goal attempts from player of the year candidate Johni Broome. Auburn’s switching man-to-man defense forced 18 turnovers and won the three-point battle (+24) by a surprising wide margin. Kentucky was outclassed by the road team in Downtown Lexington.

Auburn scored 94 points in 71 possessions (1.32 points per possession) while shooting 17-of-30 (56.7%) from two, 12-of-26 (46.2%) from three, and 24-of-31 (77.4%) from the free throw line. The Tigers had just eight turnovers but also only had only eight assists. Saturday was all about shotmaking. Georgia Tech transfer Miles Kelly led the way with 30 points and nine three-point field goals. Chad Baker-Mazara chipped in 22 points on 12 field goal attempts. Tahaad Pettiford scored 21 points on 10 field goal attempts off the bench.

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Kentucky scored 78 points in 73 possessions (1.07 points per possessions) while shooting 19-of-33 (57.6%) from two, 4-of-17 (23.%) from three, and 28-of-38 (73.7%) from the free throw line. Turnovers (24.7% turnover rate) were a massive issue and led to 21 Auburn points. Koby Brea scored 21 points on 11 field goal attempts. Andrew Carr poured in 20 points on 11 field goal attempts. Lamont Butler (15 points) and Amari Williams (13 points) also finished in double-figures but UK got nothing from the bench.

The game felt like it ultimately came down to the three-point battle and turnovers. Kentucky gave the Tigers too many free possessions and struggled to find looks from three. With Kelly having a hot shooting performance, the deck was stacked against the home underdog. Kentucky is not built to win games when they lose the three-point battle by double-digits.