With freezing conditions swirling outside the Auburn Arena, Auburn's shooters never heated up Wednesday night, and the Tigers fell 64-56 to the No. 14 Kentucky Wildcats.
Auburn (11-11, 3-8 SEC) shot just 33 percent for the game and was 2-of-16 on three point attempts.
Chris Denson led all scorers with 26 points, while center Matthew Atewe added six points and 13 rebounds for the Tigers.
"At the end of the day, give Kentucky credit, because they made winning plays when the game mattered," Auburn head coach Tony Barbee said. "With ten minutes to go in the game, I think we had a three-point lead, and from that point forward they made the majority of the winning plays."
Both teams shot just 30 percent from the field in the first half and struggled to find a consistent offensive rhythm. Kentucky (19-5, 9-2 SEC) led 28-22 at the break.
"We shot 30 percent tonight and still won," Kentucky head coach John Calipari said. "That's old-school. We just didn't have a whole group of guys playing together. "
Trailing 31-22 early in the second half, the Tigers broke out on a 16-4 run that gave Auburn its first lead of the game with 12:26 remaining.
The teams continued trading baskets until a 9-0 Kentucky run gave the Wildcats a lead they would never relinquish.
"We were kind of conservative when we were trying to hold that lead and we can't do that with a good team like Kentucky," Denson said. "We definitely should have, like Coach says, hit the gas pedal when we had that lead."
Freshman point guard Andrew Harrison led Kentucky in scoring with 16 points while touted freshman forward Julius Randle recorded a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
"In the second half, Julius (Randle) played the way he needs to play," Calipari said. "The picture he has of himself is not the picture he needs to play with. He needs to see that second half, that block out of nowhere, that offensive rebound, that tip-in."
Junior guard KT Harrell, who entered the game as the SEC's 4th leading scorer, had his worst game as an Auburn Tiger, scoring just 7 points on 2-of-15 shooting.
Harrell is shooting just 20 percent (6-of-30) from behind the arc in Auburn's last five games and was unable to connect on any of his seven attempts Wednesday night.
"They're a good defensive team and they make it hard with their length," Barbee said. "You still have to make plays if you're going to be one of those guys, especially in high level games like this."
Auburn will return to action on Feb. 15 when they'll welcome the Mississippi State Bulldogs (13-10, 3-7 SEC) to the Auburn Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.
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