Kentucky Basketball: Cats Overpower, Close Out Auburn
Kentucky Basketball: Though Auburn brought plenty of fight, the Cats overpowered the Tigers down the stretch to remain unbeaten in SEC play
Bruce Pearl’s Auburn Tigers were game, and they relentlessly attacked the paint, led by T.J. Dunans, who drove at will at times on his way to a 23 points. But Kentucky locked down on defense and remained explosive on the break, and proved just too much down the stretch, winning 92-72 to remain undefeated in SEC play.
Though Kentucky lead by double digits most of the game, Auburn cut the lead to four, 60-56, midway through the second half, with 12:32 remaining. But Kentucky took control, outscoring Auburn 36-12 the rest of the way, lead by Malik Monk.
Monk lead all scorers with 24 points, seemingly taking control late in the game, both with 3-point shooting and getting into the paint. The freshman, picking up the slack for De’Aaron Fox who fouled out with 13 points, was efficient as well. Monk shot 8-14 from the floor, including 4-8 from 3-point range, while dishing out six assists.
Bam Adebayo added 15 points and eight rebounds, while Mychal Mulder put up 12 points off the bench in relief of Fox. Isaiah Briscoe, who also had foul trouble in the first half, put up 10 points and five assists.
Though Kentucky had trouble at times tonight defending Auburn driving the lane, especially Dunans, who broke down Wildcat defenders too often, the Cats did a better job late in the second half. Those stops lead to fast break opportunities and were a big part of Kentucky taking a commanding lead down the stretch.
Kentucky looked sloppy at times tonight, electric at others, and ultimately did what it had to in order to seize command and get the conference win against a team that upset the Cats last season. Along with Mulder, Wenyen Gabriel was as good as he’s been all season at times tonight, and Dominique Hawkins gave his usual solid minutes defensively.
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Kentucky returns to action Tuesday, Jan. 17, when the Cats travel to Starkville to take on Mississippi State. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 PM EST; ESPN will broadcast the game.
