UK Faces Familiar Foe with Final Four on the Line
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The college basketball world has gotten to know Auburn well these last three weeks.
PJ Washington needed no such introduction.
He has faced Auburn three times over his two seasons at Kentucky, so he knows well what the Tigers can do.
“We definitely know how they play and stuff like that,” Washington said. “We know they can make shots. Bryce Brown is a great 3-point shooter. So is Jared Harper. They definitely have guys that can play their roles, knock down 3s and can definitely guard the ball.”
The fifth-seeded Tigers (29-9) have used that style to torch the nets – and, usually, their opponents – with a remarkable run to close out the regular season, blitz through the SEC Tournament and race into an All-SEC Elite Eight matchup with No. 2 Kentucky (30-6) Sunday at 2:20 p.m. ET.
Auburn’s 11-game winning streak features a pair of wins over Tennessee, a second-round demolition of Kansas and a Sweet 16 domination of top-seeded North Carolina. The Tigers have made at least 12 3-pointers in seven straight games, including 42 total in their three NCAA Tournament wins.
“They’ve definitely earned their way to get here,” Reid Travis said. “They beat a couple great teams to get here. We know they can shoot the ball really well. We know who they are and stuff like that. We played them twice, so we definitely know their games.”
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| Kentucky vs. Auburn | ||
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Fri., March 31 – 2:20 p.m. ET |
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TV: CBS |
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| UK | 2018-19 Stats | AU |
| 30-6 | Record | 29-9 |
| 15-3 | Conference Record | 11-7 |
| 76.0 | PPG | 80.2 |
| 64.4 | Opp PPG | 68.8 |
| .478 | FG% | .453 |
| .400 | Opp FG% | .347 |
| 38.4 | RPG | 34.2 |
| .359 | 3PT FG% | .381 |
| .345 | Opp 3PT FG% | .347 |
| .743 | FT% | .708 |
| 13.6 | APG | 14.6 |
| 6.0 | SPG | 9.4 |
| 4.8 | BPG | 4.7 |
Kentucky swept those two matchups, eking out a win at Auburn thanks in large part to clutch plays by Tyler Herro that foreshadowed his Sweet 16 heroics and later thoroughly outplaying the Tigers in Rupp Arena. Kentucky handed Auburn its most lopsided loss of the season that day, winning 80-53 in spite of Travis missing the game due to a sprained knee.
“We were dominated, completely outplayed, but Kentucky played really well,” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said. “We weren’t awful, but they were great. So I left the game and I wanted our guys not to beat themselves up.”
That loss on Feb. 23 sent Auburn to 18-9 on the season, 6-7 in SEC play. The Tigers had risen to as high as No. 7 in both polls in nonconference play, but had reached somewhat of a crossroads.
“I believe that we may have been spoiled early in the season from the previous year’s success,” junior forward Anfernee McLemore said. “But coming from the Kentucky loss, there was a point in the locker room we felt like we were tired of losing. The atmosphere changed and all the guys became locked in and ready. We was more engaged and more ready to take on the rest of the season.”
Auburn hasn’t lost since, while Kentucky has won five of its last six and finally now has a full roster after Washington returned from a sprained foot to score 16 points in 26 minutes against Houston. Experiencing no setbacks and getting plenty of treatment, Washington expects to play Sunday.
“They’re very hot right now and they’re almost a different team than we played the first two times,” Travis said. “I feel the same way about us as far as guys having more confidence and stepping up. I think it’s going to be a unique game in that sense where obviously you can watch the film from the previous two, but it’s still going to be a brand-new game.”
A brand-new game, yes, but what UK will face won’t be completely foreign. In the second half of the game at Auburn, the Tigers drilled eight second-half 3s to overcome a 17-point Kentucky lead in an outburst reminiscent of their postseason run. The Cats, however, were able to weather the storm.
“That’s been the biggest thing all season: us understanding that you can play great defense sometimes and a team will make a tough, contested shot, but the percentages will work themselves out,” Travis said. “For us, it’s just continue to be consistent, just understanding if we play the right way throughout the course of the game, that it should work itself out.”
The new variable Sunday will be the absence of Chuma Okeke, who tore his ACL in Auburn’s win over North Carolina Friday night. The sophomore forward had been a key factor in Auburn’s run and averaged 12.5 points in the two games against Kentucky.
“It’s tough to lose Chuma,” Harper said. “Like I said yesterday, I felt like he’s our most valuable player for our team, all the things that he’s able to do in the court, guard one through five, be able to be smooth from perimeter, score inside and just do all those things. I know we’re going to get that production of all those things he did from all of us it’s going to take all of us, not just one single person.”
Losing Okeke is undoubtedly a deflating loss, but the Cats know Auburn has come too far to not bring it Sunday.
“I think they’ll still be ready,” Herro said. “They’re playing, like coach said, as hard as any team in the country. I think they’ll still come out, play their game. I think they’ll be ready to go.”
It will be on the Cats to do the same.
“We definitely know they’re a great team,” Washington said. “We beat them the last two times, but we know this means more than the last two times. They’re going to come out fighting and they want it just like we want it. Whoever wants it more is going to win.”
Herro, Washington Lead Wildcats into Elite Eight
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Kentucky got its big man back, and PJ Washington helped get the Wildcats to the Elite Eight for the seventh time in 10 years – with big boost from Tyler Herro.
Herro hit a 3-pointer with 25.8 seconds left to give second-seeded Kentucky the lead after Houston had erased a double-digit deficit, and the Wildcats escaped their Midwest Regional semifinal with a 62-58 win Friday night.
There was a notion this Kentucky team might max out after two rounds of the NCAA Tournament if its star forward Washington didn’t come back from a foot injury. Playing through pain, Washington scored 16 points and had a crucial blocked shot late in the game.
“I love our will to win,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said. “How we played down the stretch. We make our free throws, we defend. But Houston, they’re a terrific team. They were not going to go away. We had to go get balls and do some stuff to beat them, and it was a great win and I’m happy for our guys.”
Herro’s huge basket gave the Wildcats (30-6) a 60-58 lead and came after Houston’s Corey Davis Jr. had his driving shot swatted away by Washington.
“He didn’t listen to me. When he caught it, I said, `Drive the ball, drive the ball,’ ” Calipari said. ”He shot it. I said, ”Great shot, Tyler. Way to make those plays.’ “
Herro, who made two free throws with 13 seconds to wrap up his 19-point night, also played a superb game defensively. His assignment was to guard Davis, who averaged 23.5 points in the Cougars’ first two tournament games. Davis missed 5 of his first 6 shots and was not much of a factor until he helped fuel Houston’s comeback. He ended up with 14 points on 5-of-16 shooting.
Houston (33-4), in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1984, used a 17-6 surge to finish a comeback from 13 points down early in the second half. Armoni Brooks, who finished with 20 points, made three of his six 3-pointers during the run, the last a fade-away from the corner to tie it at 49. Davis then muscled a shot over Reid Travis in the lane with 3:39 left for the Cougars’ first lead since 13 minutes left in the first half.
After Washington made two free throws to tie it, Brooks struck again, this time from the right side, to make it 54-51.
The Cougars couldn’t quite finish the job. Davis’ floater made it 58-55 before Washington scored over Fabian White Jr. to make it a one-point game. He missed the tying free throw, and then raced to the other end to block Davis’ shot and turn the momentum back to Kentucky.
“We certainly had our chances,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. “We had a lot of good looks throughout the game. When you get this far, it’s always tough. It’s always hard to accept losing a game.”
Washington, the power forward who’s a projected first-round NBA draft pick this year, was wearing a cast on his sprained left foot only three days ago and hadn’t played since March 16.
“I took some pain pills before the game. Kind of started hurting in the second half, but I have to tough through it,” Washington said. ”Through the end of the game, it was trying to cramp up.”
His status was a mystery right up until the first media timeout, when he entered to a standing ovation from fans behind the Kentucky bench.
Wildcats coach John Calipari had said Thursday that he would be ”stunned” if Washington played more than 15-18 minutes, if he played at all. He played 26, making 6 of 8 shots with a couple dunks and made that big block at the end.
• UK improved to 7-4 vs. Associated Press Top 25 competition this season
• Kentucky’s defense made the difference. Shooting better than 44 percent from the field for the season, Houston shot 39.6 percent
• UK is now 182-15 (.924) under Calipari when keeping the opponents to 40 percent or less, including 18-0 this season.
• Kentucky is now 173-7 (.961) under Calipari when limiting the opponent to 63 points or less, including 21-0 this season.
• In three NCAA Tournament wins, UK is limiting opponents to 52.7 points per game, a 36.4 field-goal percentage and 28.6 percent from behind the arc
• Kentucky won the rebounding 36-23. UK is 25-4 this season when outrebounding the opponent
• UK improved to 260-5 (.981) when leading by 10 points at any point in the game
• Kentucky has an all-time record of 129-51 in the NCAA Tournament, more wins than any team in NCAA history
• The Wildcats are now 25-7 as the No. 2 seed in the tournament and 7-3 vs. No. 3 seeds.
• UK improved to 22-5 all-time in Sweet 16 games since 1975 (the first year that all teams in the tournament had to win at least one game to advance to the Sweet 16) and 37-11 in regional semifinals (1988 game was vacated and does not count towards either number)
• The Wildcats advanced to their 34th all-time Elite Eight appearance since 1951 (the first year that all teams in the tournament had to win at least one game to advance to the Elite Eight)
• UK is making its seventh Elite Eight appearance in 10 seasons under John Calipari, more than any other school during that time frame
• Kentucky improved to 7-1 in Sweet 16 games under Calipari
• UK notched its fifth 30-win season under Calipari, who now has 11 career 30-win seasons, third most among all active coaches
• According to STATS, Calipari has won 37 straight NCAA Tournament games when leading at halftime, tied with John Wooden for the most ever by a coach
Wildcats Back in the Elite Eight
Kentucky is back in the Elite Eight for the 34th time in school history (since 1951 when teams had to win one game to advance to the regional finals) and the seventh time in 10 seasons under John Calipari.
The Wildcats earned their way to regional finals by defeating Abilene Christian 79-44 and Wofford 62-56 in Jacksonville, Florida, before earning a 62-58 win over Houston on Friday in Kansas City, Missouri.
Up next is a date with fifth-seeded Auburn on Sunday at 2:20 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on CBS.
Kentucky, the No. 2 seed in the Midwest, is making its nation-leading 58th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 2019 (59 on-court appearances as the 1988 appearance was vacated) and 34th in the Elite Eight since 1951. That’s the most appearances in the country.
The Wildcats are 14-19 in Elite Eight games and own a 16-20 all-time record in the regional finals (1988 game not counted).
UK has advanced to the Elite Eight in seven of Calipari’s 10 seasons and is 4-2 in the previous six Elite Eight games. No other school has as many Elite Eight appearances as the Wildcats since Calipari took the reins. Calipari is 6-5 all-time in Elite Eight games, including 4-2 as UK’s coach.
This is the seventh time in program history the Wildcats have earned a No. 2 seed in the annual event. UK is now 25-7 as the No. 2 seed. Most recently, the Cats participated as the No. 2 seed in the South Region of the 2017 NCAA Tournament, falling 75-73 to eventual national champion No. 1 North Carolina in the regional final after defeating the Tar Heels 103-100 in the regular season.
UK owns a 129-51 record all-time in NCAA action, with its .717 winning percentage the third best in NCAA history. This is the sixth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament for the Wildcats and ninth in 10 seasons under Calipari.
Kentucky is 31-7 (.816) in NCAA Tournament games under the direction of Calipari. Calipari is 56-18 (.757) as a head coach in NCAA Tournament games. Calipari’s 31 tournament wins as UK’s head coach pushes him past Adolph Rupp (30) for most NCAA Tournament wins in program history.
Since Calipari took over the reins at UK, the Wildcats lead the country in:
• NCAA Tournament wins (31)
• Final Four appearances (four)
• Elite Eight appearances (seven)
• Sweet 16 appearances (eight)
