Auburn Basketball vs Kentucky Preview and Predictions

Auburn basketball (7-8, 1-3) is coming off of a two game road trip with losses to Missouri and Vanderbilt and will now face Kentucky (13-3, 3-1) in Auburn Arena on Saturday at 3 p.m. Central. Auburn has lost three straight games after starting SEC play off with a win over Tennessee.

The Tigers have struggled in their last few games, but hopefully they’ll show better energy playing in front of their home crowd where they are 5-2 so far this season. Auburn Arena is always packed when Kentucky comes to town, and this Saturday shouldn’t be an exception. While there will be plenty of Kentucky blue inside this weekend, the energized environment should make for a fun basketball game and hopefully the Tigers can get off to a better start.

Jan 12, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; Auburn Tigers forward Cinmeon Bowers (5) drives to the basket against Vanderbilt Commodores guard Joe Toye (2) during the first half at Memorial Gym. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports /

Against Vanderbilt, Auburn finally saw each of their key players have a decent game at the same time for the first time in quite a while. Kareem Canty finished with 16 points and 6 assists. Tyler Harris had 8 points and 10 rebounds. Cinmeon Bowers even finally got out of his slump with 13 points and 10 rebounds, although he still missed a few easy ones at the rim. The team as a whole shot poorly in the first half and couldn’t overcome the huge deficit, but they certainly showed improvement that they can build on in the coming games.

Kentucky is coming off of a win at home over Mississippi State after holding off the Bulldogs upset bid towards the end of the game. Jamal Murray led the way with 22 points on 5-of-11 shooting from deep, and Tyler Ulis added 21 points and 5 assists. Each of these guys have been two of the most consistent players for the Wildcats so far this season, but by no means are they the only weapons on the roster.

While Kentucky may not be having as dominant a year as they expected, and certainly aren’t as good as last year’s squad, they’re still one of the top teams in the SEC and when they get enough players playing well, they’re one of the best teams in the country.

If Auburn wants to stand a chance of beating Kentucky, they’ll have to play much better defense than they have so far this season, and try to play physical basketball against the Wildcats.

In years past, Kentucky has always had plenty of front court depth, but this season teams have proven that a good way to bother the Wildcats is to attack the basket and try to get their bigs into foul trouble. In SEC play Kentucky has allowed their opponents to get to the free throw line on 46.3 percent of their possessions. A big part of Mississippi State cutting into Kentucky’s lead was their ability to shoot 14-0f-16 from the free throw line.

While it would be a lot to expect Auburn to shoot that high of a percentage, it is a good plan for the Tigers to try to get as many attempts as they can. Not only would it be potential free points, it could get Kentucky’s big guys like Marcus Lee and Alex Poythress in foul trouble.

More from Fly War Eagle

For Auburn, other than being aggressive and trying to get to the free throw line, the Tigers need to move the ball around more and look for the open shot or a better pass. Lately the Tigers have been so desperate to score that players are shooting low-quality shots in the final seconds or taking the ball to the basket out of control. Auburn showed early in the year that they have the ability to shoot the ball well, but they did that by moving the ball around to find the open man, or feeding it down low for Tyler Harris and other bigs to get easy baskets.

Like against Vanderbilt, Kentucky’s size will be an issue, especially around the rim, so Auburn can’t expect to just lazily put up shots. The Tigers need to make sure they’re open, or at least go up strong and draw the foul. Defeating Kentucky is going to be a tall task, but if Auburn wants to do it, they’re going to have to play well from the beginning. Falling behind early to one of the best teams in the SEC probably won’t end well, even at home.

If Auburn had their full roster available, I would think they have a good shot of pulling off the upset against a underachieving Kentucky team – by their standards. However, T.J. Dunans and Tahj Shamsid-Deen aren’t going to magically walk out on the court Saturday fully healed and without one of their best overall players and veteran leader, Auburn won’t stand much of a chance.

It will take a near perfect game, and a much better performance than their previous three for Auburn to get this done. They have to start fast and play smart early and then keep the intensity in the second half as well. While I wish this could be the year for Auburn to finally knock off Kentucky, I just don’t think the Tigers can get it done this time.

I think Auburn will play better than they have in the past few games, but the Tigers still let the size and talent of Kentucky force them into too many errors and lose 65-80.

Home/Auburn Basketball