Miles Kelly on hitting 9 three-pointers against Kentucky: 'The Rupp rims, I love them.'

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Auburn Tigers guard Miles Kelly (13) celebrates after making a three point basket during the second half against the Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

12 seconds into Saturday’s game, Auburn guard Miles Kelly walked down the court and drilled a three-pointer. It was his first of nine in the contest, and an unfortunate sign of what was to come over the next 39-plus minutes.

“I just came out feeling it. First possession down, they came at me, I knocked the shot down,” Kelly, who is in his first season with Auburn after three at Georgia Tech, said postgame. “After that, I was just feeling it from there. The Rupp rims, I love them. They felt good. Every time I shot the ball, I thought it was going in. My teammates did a great job of finding me.”

Not only does Kelly seem to like the Rupp Arena rims, but he also likes the backboards. In a span of 20 seconds early in the first half, he banked in two three-pointers on back-to-back possessions for Auburn. Those two shots marked his third and fourth three-pointers less than six minutes into the game. Kentucky was already down by 13 points before the Tigers broke a sweat.

“First play down, we come out and shoot the three off the very first possession,” Kelly said. “Just brings the overall team energy up. For me, of course, when you hit your first shot, you just have ultimate confidence the rest of the game, and that’s what I had.”

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Miles Kelly against Kentucky:

30 PTS | 9-14 3PM (64.3%)

Incredible shooting performance.🔥🔥 https://t.co/Feps1atvyW pic.twitter.com/sBi5AT34ZA
— CBB Analytics (@CBBAnalytics) March 1, 2025

Kelly finished his night shooting 9-14 from deep to reach his 30 points, a season-high for the 6-foot-4 sharpshooter. He shot 5-9 in the first half before going 4-5 in the second half. Kelly even converted an and-one on a three-pointer during the second half after Otega Oweh was tagged with the shooting foul. Kelly wasn’t lying: it genuinely felt like everything was going in once the ball left his fingertips.

It’s not often someone comes into Rupp Arena and knocks down nine or more triples. In fact, it’s only happened a couple of times throughout the building’s history, according to Stathead. Most recently, VMI’s Bubba Parham went 10-16 from deep in a loss to Kentucky in Nov. 2018. Before that, it was Sam Houston State’s Corey Allmond in a Nov. 2009 loss when he finished 11-16 from long range.

Kelly joined that exclusive club on Saturday as Auburn cruised to the 94-78 victory.