It seemed like Saturday was destined to be a big day for Auburn basketball. The Tigers hosted College Gameday for the first time in program history and with an opportunity to beat Kentucky, the lights seemed to shine brighter in Auburn Arena.
Combining all of these factors into one game set up for a memorable experience for the fans, the experience became better for those on the Plains as Auburn knocked off No. 13 Kentucky by a score of 75-66 for only the fourth time since John Calipari became the Wildcats coach.
The game was a back-and-forth affair throughout with Samir Doughty helping lead the Tigers with 23 points in the contest. Neither team would be able to create much separation from each other with Auburn’s largest lead of the game being nine and Kentucky’s being seven.
It was a physical game for both teams with both having key players in foul trouble through much of the game. Four of Auburn’s five starters finished with three or more fouls and Kentucky finished with seven players having three or more fouls.
Auburn’s starting lineup combined for 64 of Auburn’s 75 points and four of the five starters scored in double-digits. Austin Wiley added in 12 points and 10 rebounds in 18 minutes.
For Auburn fans, the win may seem like an upset, but this was a game that Auburn’s players felt like were going to win according to Wiley.
“Oh yeah, [Doughty] can attest to this, that’s why we came here to make history,” Wiley said. “Like you said, fans should get used to this because we work hard, and it shouldn’t be a surprising win every time we beat good teams like Kentucky, we’ve got good players too. They should get used to it.”
At the half, Kentucky led 35-34, and in the second half the lead wouldn’t get much bigger for either team. Late in the second half as the two teams seemingly traded the lead after each made basket, Auburn turned to its talented freshman Isaac Okoro and the senior Doughty to seal the victory.
“Down the stretch, we’ve seen that Isaac had a mismatch," Doughty said. “So, we just wanted to keep giving him the ball and we knew at the end of the day he was going to make the right play whether that was finishing or getting his teammates involved. We seen the mismatch and if you want to be a great ball club, you’ve got to take mismatches no matter who’s hot, so that’s what we did.”
Auburn took advantage fully of the mismatch with Okoro as he led the Tigers in scoring in the second half with 11 points. Not to mention, Okoro helped hold Kentucky guard Ashton Hagans to six points and six turnovers. Prior to the meeting in Auburn Arena, Hagans was averaging 13.2 points per game.
As Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl put it bluntly after the game speaking on all the festivities surrounding today’s game, “It was a great day at Auburn Arena.”
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