No. 17 Cats Fall to Top-Ranked Tigers on Saturday
Koby Brea scored 21 points, but No. 17 Kentucky fell to top-ranked Auburn 94-78 on Saturday at Rupp Arena.
Kentucky (19-10, 8-8 Southeastern Conference) got 20 points from Andrew Carr and Lamont Butler had 15. Amari Williams had a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds.
The Cats committed 18 turnovers, which turned into 21 Auburn points. On the flip side, Auburn turned it over just eight times and UK scored nine points off the Auburn miscues.
Auburn hit a three-pointer on the first possession of the game, but UK answered with an Andrew Carr bucket to make it 3-2. An Otega Oweh layup gave the Cats a 4-3 lead, but Auburn grabbed the lead back on two free throws and extended it to 7-4 on a fast-break layup.
Oweh hit two free throws to get UK within a point, but Auburn scored the next 12 to lead 19-6. An Amari Williams layup made it 19-8. After two free throws by the Tigers, Williams made one of two and Carr made a pair, cutting the deficit to 21-11.
After an Auburn basket, Williams converted a three-point play to get UK within nine, 23-14. Auburn would lead 27-17 before Kentucky got a three-point play from Williams and a dunk from Koby Brea to cut the deficit to 27-21. Auburn would stretch the lead to 34-23 before Brea hit a three, making it 34-26. A pair of Butler free throws cut the Auburn lead to 34-28. Auburn would extend the lead to eight but Carr hit two free throws to get UK within six, 36-30.
The Tigers would go on a 13-4 run as the Cats went cold from the floor. Auburn would lead 49-34 at the half.
Kentucky scored the first point of the second half, but it was Auburn that went on a 10-4 run to open a 59-39 lead. A Carr basket cut it to 59-41, but the Tigers answered with a three to lead 62-41. Brea would do his best to bring the Cats back, scoring UK’s next 11 points, but the Cats were only able to get as close as 68-52 during that stretch.
UK would continue to fight back, getting two layups from Buter to make it 71-58, but Auburn scored the next seven points to again lead by 20. From there, UK would not get any closer than 14 points.
Kentucky returns to action on Tuesday night, hosting LSU in the home finale at Rupp Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on ESPN2.
