The No. 12 Auburn Tigers have been a wagon all season long at Neville Arena. On Saturday, that wagon lost all four wheels, headed downhill, and crashed into “Village Dining.”
Auburn’s offense which had been so potent at home all year mustered just 59 points against a sub-par, at best, No. 20 Kentucky defense. Stars Johni Broome and Jaylin Williams were largely ineffective, and the latter ultimately was forced out of the game halfway through the second half due to injury in the Tigers 70-59 loss to the Wildcats.
Frankly, all Tigers other than guard Chad Baker-Mazara were virtual no-shows in front of the College GameDay crowd.
The offensive issues were enough to sink the Tigers against a solid Kentucky offense that did just enough on the road. Guards Austin Reeves and Rob Dillingham weren’t fantastic, but the duo was able to draw foul after foul, frustrating Auburn’s perimeter defense for 40 minutes.
That frustration obviously boiled over on the offensive end for players such as K.D Johnson (3/10 from the field), Tre Donaldson (0/3 from the field), and Aden Holloway (1/5 from the field). Holloway in particular continued his brutal stretch. The freshmen is now just two for his last 21 from three-point range on the season.
Auburn’s loss is tragic for a variety of reasons, the most glaring being they now trail rival Alabama by 1.5 games in the SEC with just five contests remaining. With a road game against No.9 Tennessee in Knoxville still on the schedule, Auburn’s chances of capturing a regular season SEC Championship are extremely slim.
On the bright side, the Tigers will have a full week to regroup before they travel to Athens to take on a mediocre Georgia team next Saturday.
As for Kentucky, the Wildcats now have life in the SEC hunt, especially with games against LSU and in Rupp Arena against Alabama next week.
