Kentucky-Auburn Postgame Notes

KENTUCKY MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
NEVILLE ARENA | AUBURN, ALA.
FEBRUARY 21, 2026
ATTENDANCE: 9,121

Final Score: Auburn: 75, (RV) Kentucky: 74

Team Records and Series Notes

• Kentucky is 17-10 overall, 8-6 in the Southeastern Conference
• Auburn is 15-12 overall, 6-8 in the SEC.
• Kentucky leads the series 98-25, including 32-19 in Auburn.
• Next for Kentucky: Kentucky continues its road swing at South Carolina on Tuesday. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on SEC Network.

Team Notes

• UK’s 17 offensive rebounds were its most against an SEC opponent this season and the second most for the Wildcats on the year
• Kentucky won the overall rebounding battle, 38-33. The Cats are 13-4 on the season when outrebounding the opponent
• The Wildcats held Auburn to 40 percent shooting and just 26 percent from beyond the arc. It is the first time Kentucky has lost this season when holding an opponent under 30 percent from 3-point range, moving its record to 9-1 in such games
• UK limited Auburn’s leading scorer, Keyshawn Hall to just 10 points on 3-of-15 shooting. He was averaging 21.0 points per game coming into the contest
• The loss was the first for Kentucky this season when leading at halftime, moving the Cats’ record to 11-1 in such games this year. UK is 32-2 under Mark Pope when leading at the intermission

Player Notes  

• Otega Oweh scored career high of 29 points
  • Oweh tied his career-high with 28 points in Kentucky’s previous game vs. Georgia. He is the first Kentucky player to score 25+ points in two consecutive games since Antonio Reeves in December of 2023 and the first to score at least 28 points in consecutive SEC games since Oscar Tshiebwe on Jan. 8 and 11, 2022
  • Oweh is the first Wildcat to score at least 29 points at Auburn since Jim Master on Feb. 3, 1982
  • It is his 13^th 20-point game of the season, all coming in the last 18 games.
  • He has tallied at least 20 points in 11 of UK’s 14 SEC games.
  • He has 19 games of at least 20 points against SEC opponents in his UK career, matching Antonio Reeves for the most among Wildcats since 1996-97
  • Oweh has 26, 20-point games as a Wildcat, matching Patrick Patterson for the third most by a Kentucky player since 1996-97
  • He has scored in double figures in all 27 games this season, and 30-straight contests dating back to last season
  • He is the first Kentucky player to score in double figures in 30 consecutive games since Malik Monk during the 2016-17 season
• Denzel Aberdeen had 15 points and made three 3-pointers
  • It is his 19^th double-figure game of the season and tenth in the last 12 games
  • It was his fifth game with three or more made 3s this season
• Malachi Moreno had a team-high four assists and tied for the team lead with seven rebounds, while adding seven points. He led UK with four offensive rebounds
• Kentucky is currently missing Jayden Quaintance, Kam Williams and Jaland Lowe because of injury. Lowe is out for the season.
  • By the time Kentucky reaches the end of the regular season, during his two years at UK, Coach Mark Pope will have played only five of 52 games against high-major opponents (9.6%) with a full roster.

In the First Half

• Kentucky started the combination of Denzel Aberdeen, Collin Chandler, Otega Oweh, Andrija Jelavic and Malachi Moreno for the eighth consecutive game.
• UK’s first substitution was Brandon Garrison at 19:41 after Moreno rolled his ankle on the first possession.
• Moreno returned to the game at 16:51
• After a back-and-forth start to the contest, Auburn opened up a six-point lead at 28-22 with 8:22 remaining in the half
• The Wildcats held Auburn without a field goal from 10:15 to 4:17, with the Tigers missing nine straight field goal attempts over 5:58 of game time allowing UK to eventually retake the lead at 32-31at 4:28
• The Wildcats ended the half on a 7-0 run to take a 39-35 lead to the half
• Oweh led all scorers with 12 first-half points
• There were eight lead changes and seven ties over the opening 20 minutes 

In the Second Half

• Kentucky began the second half with the starters
• After a pair of Auburn free throws to begin the half, Kentucky went on a 7-0 spurt, forcing a Tigers’ timeout with the score, 46-37
• Auburn missed 18 of 20 field goals over the end of the first half and the start of the second
• A 10-0 Auburn spurt put the Tigers back in front, 57-53
• Trailing, 71-68, the Cats used a 6-0 run to move ahead, 74-71 with 18 seconds remaining
• Two free throws from Auburn’s Tahaad Pettiford made it 74-73, UK ahead
• An offensive foul on Collin Chandler gave Auburn back the ball with 0:14 on the clock
• Kevin Overton’s initial attempt was blocked by Mo Dioubate. Keshawn Murphy grabbed the ball and missed a layup attempt before a putback by Elijah Freeman with 1.2 seconds to go gave Auburn the 75-74 lead
• The Wildcats tried a full-court pass from Collin Chandler to Malachi Moreno, but the heave could not be corralled as time expired