The foundation of Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum shook Saturday with the deafening cheers of the Auburn faithful, even to the end.
Despite coming off a 81-55 loss to Tennessee on the road last Thursday, the Auburn Men's Basketball team came within an eyelash of upsetting No. 2 Kentucky in an arena 11,669 strong.
The Tigers were inconsistent in the first half, shooting a mere 29 percent.
Kentucky, meanwhile, took advantage of the home team's missteps, hitting 16 foul shots.
"Obviously the big difference of the game was the foul line," said Auburn head coach Jeff Lebo. "They got to the line 27 times in the first half. That's the most I think I've ever been involved with in a half."
Auburn went to the locker room trailing 39-26.
Though senior guard DeWayne Reed had missed his first 10 shots, he rallied his team back in the second half, scoring a game-high 19 points.
As Kentucky scored Auburn answered, but when opportunities to take the lead presented themselves, notably a missed 3-pointer by Kentucky's Darius Miller, the Tigers couldn't rise to the occasion.
With 12 seconds to go, Reed missed a 3-pointer that would have tied the game.
"It was a great look," Reed said. "I just had to put it in, but unfortunately it didn't go."
With the score at 67-70 and 9 seconds to go, Kentucky's John Wall sank two free throw shots to make the final score 72-67 and put the Wildcats at 18-0 overall and 3-0 in conference play.
"Their size, you just can't simulate that," Lebo said. "They're bigger than some NBA teams. We try to simulate in practice, but you can't simulate that speed coming at you like that."
Another Auburn standout was sophomore guard Frankie Sullivan, who added 15 points in 22 minutes to give Auburn an edge in the second half, including three 3-pointers.
Sullivan attributed the team's dramatic improvement to the overwhelming crowd support.
"It's like an imaginary sixth man," Sullivan said. "Our fans don't support us like that all the time. I wish they would. I'm ready to play every game, but the crowd just gives you a boost like an energy drink."
Kentucky coach John Calipari said he anticipates Kentucky's opponents will try to make a name for themselves at the expense of his team.
"We were very fortunate to win the game," Calipari said. "They were shooting 70 percent in the second half, for probably 16 minutes. 70 percent. I can't remember a team doing that to one of my teams."
The second straight conference loss brings Auburn to 9-9 overall and 0-3 in the SEC.
The Tigers' stretch of league play continued at Louisiana State University Wednesday, followed by a trip to Vanderbilt Saturday.
However the wins and losses tally up, Sullivan remains confident.
"Once we play two complete halves, we'll have a great ball club," Sullivan said.
After facing off against LSU in Baton Rouge, Auburn now turns toward a 14-3 Vanderbilt team.
The Commodores are 3-0 in the SEC and will meet the Tigers Saturday at 12:30 p.m. in Nashville having enjoyed a week off since defeating South Carolina 89-79.
"This is an opportunity to get ourselves better," said Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings. "There are some things we need to work on and hopefully we can get ourselves better before next Saturday."
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