Just one game after a season-best offensive performance, No. 13 Auburn struggled mightily on the offensive end in a 70-59 loss to No. 22 Kentucky, the Tigers’ first loss at home this season. The Tigers never led in the game, trailing for the final 37:50 of play.
“While I’m disappointed in the outcome, when you get outplayed, when somebody plays better than you, my hat’s off to them,” said head coach Bruce Pearl. “And that’s why we didn’t win.”
The day began with fun and excitement, as College GameDay aired live from the Plains – with students camping out for three nights in advance to get into the show and the game. The fans were rowdy from the time doors opened at 7 a.m. CST.
Just over 12 hours later, the Jungle left dejectedly following the poor offensive showing and a potentially season-altering injury.
The Tigers (20-6, 9-4 SEC) shot just 30.9% from the field and just 18.2% from behind the arc, making just four of their 22 3-point attempts. Three of the four 3-pointers were made by Denver Jones, while Chad Baker-Mazara made his only 3-point attempt. Auburn’s other players combined to go 0-for-14 from 3-point range in the game.
After putting up 101 points against South Carolina, who boasted the league’s best scoring defense, on Wednesday, the Tigers faltered to 59 points against the Wildcats (18-7, 8-4 SEC), who came into the game giving up 78.1 points per game – second-worst in the SEC.
Baker-Mazara and Johni Broome tied for the team lead with 14 points, while Jones scored 12. Broome’s 11 rebounds gave him a double-double.
Auburn center Johni Broome (#4) celebrates after a play against Kentucky in Neville Arena on February 17th, 2024.
The one area in which the Tigers succeeded offensively was in the paint, where Auburn scored 26 of its 59 points. Combined with the 21 points Auburn scored on free throws, 47 of the Tigers’ 59 points came either in the paint or at the foul line.
The Tigers were 13-of-23 on layup attempts while going 4-of-32 on all other shot attempts. The Tigers only attempted one dunk, which was missed. Pearl cited the pressure Kentucky employed as one of the primary reasons his team did not go to the paint more often.
“Their ball pressure from their guards really wouldn’t allow us to get the ball in places on the floor that we kind of need to do,” Pearl said. “To be able to execute our offense or get the ball inside to Jaylin Williams, to get the ball inside to Johni more.”
The Tigers held the high-scoring offense of Kentucky in check, with the Wildcats making just 44.4% of their shots and connecting on just four 3-pointers in a 70-point performance. The Wildcats came into Saturday’s contest averaging 88.9 points per game, third nationally.
In his Friday press conference, Pearl referenced Kentucky guard Antonio Reeves’ history of success against Auburn. Pearl was proven correct in his concern about Reeves, as he scored 22 points to lead all scorers, giving the Tigers fits once again. Guard Adou Thiero added 14 points.
“Reeves kind of took over,” Pearl said. “Thiero really stepped up in a big, big way and outplayed us at his position.”
Auburn gave itself opportunities on multiple occasions but failed to take advantage of those chances. Auburn had 14 offensive rebounds to Kentucky’s 10, yet was outscored 20-10 in second-chance points. Auburn forced 12 turnovers while committing 11, yet was outscored 23-10 in points off turnovers.
A critical moment in the game came midway through the second half when Jaylin Williams appeared to suffer a knee injury following a dunk attempt. While there was applause from the Neville Arena crowd when Williams was helped up, it quickly turned to dead silence when it became apparent Williams was unable to put weight on his right leg.
“It’s for sure hard seeing a brother go down like that,” Jones said. “(Williams) is a huge piece of this team and us seeing that, of course, we felt some type of way about it and then we still had to start again and play. But we’re still praying for (Williams).”
Auburn forward Jaylin Williams (#2) takes a shot against Kentucky in Neville Arena on February 17th, 2024.
Williams’ injury came with the Tigers down 51-44 with 10:40 to go. As if the air was taken out of the arena and the team following the loss of one of their leaders, the Tigers gave up a 13-4 run over the next 4:35 as Kentucky stretched its lead to 16, effectively sealing the Wildcats’ win.
“We were in range when he got hurt,” Pearl said. “And we think he’s got to have something. We think it’s something. Not just a bang, he had a pivot. So we’ll do an MRI tomorrow and then we’ll take a look at it.”
The Tigers now find themselves in a tie for third place in the SEC, 1 1/2 games behind league-leader Alabama.
Auburn will have the midweek off before traveling to Athens, Georgia, to face the Georgia Bulldogs. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. CST and the game will be shown on the SEC Network.
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Matthew is a senior from Huntsville, Alabama, majoring in journalism. He started with The Plainsman in fall 2021.
Twitter: @mattwallaceAU
