The Auburn basketball team (8-8, 2-3) hadn’t beaten a ranked opponent since 2009, and they had lost 18 straight to the Kentucky Wildcats (13-4, 3-2). Both of those streaks ended on Saturday when the Tigers upset the 14th ranked Wildcats 75-70.
Kareem Canty had a huge second half and finished the game with 26 points. Tyler Harris had a monster game as well scoring 21 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
The Tigers made 12 three-pointers and shot better from downtown than they did from inside the arc. This was strictly an effort win. Bruce Pearl had his team ready to play and the Tigers refused to back down.
Both teams got off to a slow start, which allowed Auburn to stay in the game. At the first media timeout the score was just 8-6, and by the under 12 timeout the Tigers had actually taken a one point lead over Kentucky 11-10.
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Every time the Wildcats tried to pull away in the first half the Tigers responded with a three-pointer. It was 22-17 until a couple of threes by Harris brought Auburn within one point. They would later take the lead at the 3:30 mark after a pair of free throws by Jordon Granger.
The game continued to go back and forth, but a mini 5-0 run by Kentucky at the end of the first half made it 35-30 at halftime.
Harris had 7 points and 6 rebounds at the half. Auburn shot just 28 percent from the field in the first half, but they made six three-pointers to help keep the score close.
The game started to slip away from the Tigers early in the second half as Kentucky took their biggest lead of the game into the under 16 timeout 45-35.
An 11-2 run by Auburn, capped off by a great coast-to-coast bucket by Cinmeon Bowers, cut the Wildcats lead to three.
Auburn then went on a 10-0 run with Canty and Harris each knocking down a three pointer to give Auburn a 56-51 lead with just under 9 minutes left in the game.
The game continued to go back-and-forth and at the 2:45 mark the game was all tied up at 65 apiece. Kentucky went up two with just under two minutes left, but a coast-to-coast drive and layup by Canty tied it back up. He was fouled on the play and the subsequent free throw put Auburn up by one with 1:30 left.
A Harris jumper gave Auburn a three point lead with a minute left. Harris then hit a couple of huge free throws to give them a five point lead. The Auburn defense continued to come up huge at the end of the game and the Tigers were able to ice it at the free throw line as the pumped up Auburn crowd stormed the court.
This was by far the most exciting Auburn game I’ve watched in a long time. The crowd was into it and the players seemed to feed off of them. After some poor performances on the road it was nice to see this team re-energized and playing inspired basketball. Hopefully they can keep the momentum up and make a run late in SEC play.
Auburn’s next game will come in the basketball version of the Iron Bowl as the Crimson Tide visits Auburn Arena on Tuesday. Tip off will be at 8 p.m. Central, and the game will be televised on the SEC Network.