Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl knew all about Kentucky’s post play even before he brought his Auburn team to Rupp Arena.On Saturday, he witnessed it up close and in person.”They are very physical defensively,” Pearl said. “And it’s nothing like anything we’ve seen all year long. What they do offensively as far as pounding it inside, there’s nobody in the league who’s even close to that.”And by the Wildcats’ high standards, they even turned things up a notch for the Tigers.No. 1 UK, in moving to 27-0 (14-0 Southeastern Conference), was dominant in a 110-75 win. The Cats overwhelmed with their strength and length, outscoring the Tigers 62-24 in the paint and outrebounding them by a margin of 44-22.The Cats came in waves with Karl-Anthony Towns and Dakari Johnson leading the way. Towns had 19 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks, while Johnson had 13 points and six rebounds in just 16 minutes.”I thought Karl and Dakari were outstanding today,” John Calipari said. “The other guys all played pretty well but those two stood out.”Towns’ performance continued a run of recent strong play, with Saturday being his fifth double-digit scoring performance in seven games and third double-double of the stretch. Johnson, on the other hand, had a breakout game of sorts.The 7-foot sophomore has struggled at times to score in the post this season, but experienced no such issues against Auburn. He made 6 of 7 from the field and made quick, decisive moves in doing so. “It’s about getting deeper position,” Johnson said. “That’s what Coach has been telling me, so I won’t have to take as many dribbles and stuff. I can take one or two dribbles then go right up. That’s what we’ve been trying to focus on the last couple of games.”Johnson’s worthiest opposition on Saturday wasn’t the opposition at all. It was Marcus Lee.Midway through the second half, Johnson found himself in prime offensive-rebounding position when Devin Booker missed a short jumper. But instead of Johnson grabbing the rebound and putting it in for an easy two points, Lee streaked in trailing the play and dunked over his teammate.”I tried to get the offensive rebound and then somebody just came over the back,” Johnson said. “I was like–I was mad at first because it was my offensive rebound, then I saw Marcus. So it was crazy.”Johnson went sprawling and Lee tripped over him.”We were very confused, because we both ended up on the floor, and he was like, ‘You jumped over me and fell on me,’ ” said Lee, who had six points and eight rebounds on the night when Tony Delk, who preceded Lee in wearing number 00, had his jersey retired. “I was like, ‘Sorry.’ It was kind of like a big awkwardness.”Awkwardness aside, the play gave a little insight into what it looks like when the Cats go at each other on the practice floor at the Joe Craft Center.”It’s either, us going at each other and ending up fighting each other,” Lee said. “… I think that’s how we honestly get better is we always go at each other, even though we’re on the same team. I’m always going at Willie, and Dakari and Karl are always going at each other and they’re not stopping at any point. Cal has to stop because he thinks we’re getting too rough. That’s how our practices make us better.”For a brief time, Coach Cal backed off in practice anticipating the stretch run. The result, however, was a step back in games, most notably in the post. But in recent weeks, he’s turned the heat back on. UK’s smothering of Auburn is proof it’s working.”That’s something we’ve really been focusing on lately,” Lee said. “We’ve been doing that for a while – for the past, I guess, four or five games – because for a while, as a big team, we knew we were struggling getting stuff done.”There was no such struggle on Saturday.Their inside presence reestablished and Johnson and Towns scoring at will on post-up opportunities, the Cats forced Auburn into a series of impossible defensive choices in scoring a season-high 110 points.”So are they going to try to front the post?” Calipari said. “Are they going to try to trap? If they do trap, are they trapping from a big guy? Are they trapping from a guard? Are they just going to dig? And then we had to play off of it, and we played well off of it. We kicked it out for 3s. We kicked it out for drives. We posted the ball when the court was spread.”  UK converted 6-of-17 3-point tries, just below UK’s shooting percentage of .362 in SEC play, making the Tigers pay for sending bodies at UK’s bigs.”They hunt shots,” Pearl said. “They want them. If anybody goes zone now, their eyes get big, you know? That’s a good thing. They throw it down in the post. They hardly wait for it to get kicked back out. And the deal is, they’re so much more dominant on the inside, because those guys can score down there.”With Kentucky’s interior play rounding into form and the rest falling into place behind it, the Cats appear well positioned to peak come March.”I mean, I call it baby steps,” Lee said. “Every time you kind of just get better each time until you actually start walking. That’s how we’re getting it. We’re taking our time knowing that we know where we have to be when March hits. So, we’re just trying to get there at some point. We’re not really in a rush.”