Wildcats Control Auburn, Move to 3-0 in Conference

Kentucky wanted to continue their hot start to conference play and the 10th ranked Wildcats did just that, defeating Auburn tonight 78-57 in a game that was never really in doubt. UK was led by four players in double-figures, notably Jennifer O’Neill with 17 and Linnae Harper with 15. The Cats move to 14-2 on the season and are now 3-0 in league play.

With Auburn playing a full-court press nearly the entire game, Kentucky committed only an impressive 12 turnovers. “I’m just so happy that we have been able to show some maturity in that area. I’ve faulted the team the whole year with their lack of maturity but it shows they have taken that seriously. That’s the third game in the row where it’s been 15 turnovers or less and that’s right where we want it to be,” said Coach Mitchell.

Kentucky was able to break their streak of getting off to bad starts in tonight’s game, but they weren’t able to bury Auburn until late in the second half. The Tigers hung around a 12-point deficit or what seemed like forever, with both teams failing to execute on this frigid night in Lexington. Auburn is a middle of the pack SEC team who will struggle to keep their head above water in this competitive conference, and UK seemed fairly uninterested the large majority of the game, relying on their talent alone to build their lead.

Never one for many words or happiness it seems, Auburn’s Coach Williams-Flournoy said simply after the game: “It’s very hard to win a basketball game turning the ball over 25 times. We turned the ball over and they converted it into points.” There ya have it…

The Cats return to action Sunday afternoon in a hotly contested road matchup, facing the undefeated and top ranked South Carolina Gamecocks. Here’s to hoping for the upset…

@WilderTreadKSR