SEC Heavyweights Auburn, Kentucky Ready To Rumble
No. 2 Auburn Eyeing 15th Win in a Row
Since a loss to LSU, Kentucky has won its last four games but three have come against unranked opponents. It would be an understatement to suggest that Auburn will challenge the Wildcats in ways that Georgia, Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Texas A&M couldn’t.
Auburn has won its last 14 games since an overtime loss to UConn but only three of them have been decided by less than 10 points.
No. 2 Auburn is one of three teams in the Southeastern Conference still perfect at home as the Tigers are 9-0 in the friendly confines of Auburn arena while No. 12 Kentucky has split its four true road games.
This is a showdown with the teams with the best odds to win the SEC title. Auburn has moved ahead of the pack (-225) while preseason favorite Kentucky (+450) is well ahead of the rest of the field. Auburn (+300) is tied for the fifth-best odds to advance to the Final Four. Kentucky (+350) isn’t far behind.
Game: Kentucky (15-3) at Auburn (17-1)
Location: Auburn Arena
Day/Time: Saturday, January 22, 1 p.m. ET
Television: CBS
Kentucky Wildcats at Auburn Tigers
Ugly Win Might Be What Kentucky Needed
Every coach in the country would love to see his team clicking on all cylinders and rolling to victory as Kentucky did in a 28-point destruction of nationally ranked Tennessee. However, for the Kentucky Wildcats, needing to scratch and claw their way to a six-point road win at Texas A&M might have been just what the doctor ordered.
The Wildcats were 0-3 this season in games decided by less than 10 points while having a margin of victory of 25 points in its 15 wins.
Perhaps the lessons learned in losses to Duke, Notre Dame and LSU began to sink in because when Kentucky fell behind by 13 points on the road, the Wildcats began to push back. It was only a five-point deficit by halftime and with nine minutes to play, Kellan Grady put Kentucky in front. Although Kentucky didn’t make a field goal for the final 3:37, some clutch free throws, key rebounds and tough defense proved to be enough for the Wildcats to return home with a 64-58 win.
Overnight, Kentucky moved up to No. 3 in the Ken Pom Ratings behind No. 1 Gonzaga and No. 2 Baylor after Cats held off Texas A&M 64-58 to go 15-3 on the season. Auburn is No. 6, LSU is No. 10, Tennessee is No. 15 and Alabama is No. 16. @KentuckyMBB @SECNetwork #BBN pic.twitter.com/LOOm0QrJVj
— Oscar Combs (@wildcatnews) January 20, 2022
“A couple of guys didn’t play well,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said after the Texas A&M game. “That’s OK. You’re not machines, you’re not robots. Other guys stepped in and played well. How about Jacob (Toppin) and how he played? How about Lance (Ware)? When Lance went in, when we needed him. [He] went in and we ran an offense through him? Unbelievable. Then, what happened with TyTy (Washington Jr.), we were going to him, he turned it over twice. I took him out and said, ‘hey kid, in a big game, this is who you are? You can’t make a play? You turn it over? You’ve got to prove, in this game, you can make baskets.’ I stuck him back in and went at him and he made two big hoops.”
If the environment at Texas A&M was challenging, one can only wonder the test awaiting the Wildcats against No. 2 Auburn.
Kentucky is 6-3 against the college basketball spreads in its last nine games.
Auburn Puts Winning Streak on the Line
In a season when ranked teams suffer stunning losses seemingly on a nightly basis, the Auburn Tigers have been rolling along and taking care of business.
Auburn’s lone blemish this season was a double-overtime 115-109 thriller against UConn in the first of three games at the Battle 4 Atlantis. The Tigers rebounded with wins over Loyola Chicago and Syracuse. Seven more wins followed in December with only decided by single digits. There were back-to-back road tests earlier this month as Auburn won at Alabama by four and at Ole Miss by nine.
Freshman forward Jabari Smith, who is rising up NBA draft boards, has scored in double figures in 15 straight games. He had at least 20 points in the two games following the Tigers’ lone loss of the season and had 25 in the tussle with Alabama. Three other players average more than 10 points per game.
Now comes the biggest test of all facing a Kentucky team that was the preseason pick to win the SEC title.
“Probably the biggest home game we’ve had since I’ve been coaching,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “There’s a lot a stake here. It’s a huge opportunity for either team to put themselves in a position where everybody else is going to be looking up at you.”
There have been some memorable games in the 12-year history of Auburn Arena but this is the first when both the visiting and home teams are both ranked in the top 12.
“We’ve got to step up in a huge way for Kentucky,” Pearl said. “I think it’s one of the best teams John (Calipari) has had in years. It’ll be a clash of the titans, that’s for sure.”
Auburn has covered against the Las Vegas odds in each of its last seven games.
Will Kentucky Take Down SEC’s Most Complete Team?
Kentucky has the upper hand when it comes to in gaudy individual stats as Oscar Tshiebwe is the nation’s leading rebounder and also the SEC leader in field-goal percentage while Sahvir Wheeler is the conference leader in assists per game. Auburn is the leader in the statistic that counts the most – winning percentage. The Tigers do lead the SEC in blocked shots and are second in three-pointers but the biggest key is that there are few weaknesses on this Auburn team.
The total has gone under in 15 of the last 20 games between Auburn and Kentucky although with the teams ranking first and second in the SEC this season in field-goal percentage so it might be hard for those who bet online to choose the under.
Auburn has covered in four of the last five meetings with Kentucky. Kentucky has many huge games under Calipari’s tutelage but with the way Auburn has played this season, it is hard to pick against the Tigers especially when playing at home.
