After the Court Cleared: Thoughts from Auburn’s Upset of Kentucky

Well, I was wrong, and I couldn’t be happier. Not only did Auburn get the upset over the 14th ranked Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday, they did it in an impressive fashion. Auburn battled back-and-forth with Kentucky all day and eventually came out on top after their best defensive performance of the season.

After jumping up and down, screaming all night long, storming the court, and now having re-watched the game, here are my thoughts.

No 1.

Cinmeon Bowers made some bold claims yesterday in saying that Kentucky is beatable, unlike last year, which I totally agreed with, except for the fact that Auburn is still missing three of their top players with Tahj Shamsid-Deen, T.J. Dunans, and Danjel Purifoy out. However, Cim went on to say something that seemed even more over the top – he claimed that Auburn’s guards were better than Kentucky’s rotation of Tyler Ulis, Jamal Murray, and Isiah Briscoe. Even after the victory, I still think Bowers was crazy to say our guards are better than Kentucky’s, but he sure did do his best to back up his words, and I think Auburn as a team followed suit.

Cinmeon Bowers, although he only finished with 8 points and 10 rebounds, played one of his better games this season from my vantage point. Bowers guarded different players from the frontcourt to the backcourt, and made it difficult for Kentucky to score most of the night.

No 2.

Auburn should win a few games in Auburn Arena this season that they wouldn’t win otherwise. On Saturday The Jungle and the entire Arena was involved in the game from start to finish. After two frustrating games on the road, Auburn’s players appeared to be revitalized by the home crowd.

Auburn, who usually gives up several big runs in a game, seemingly only allowed Kentucky to have one major run early in the second half. I’ll be honest, at that point I thought the game could be over. Then Kareem Canty and Tyler Harris returned the favor and made a few plays to get Auburn Arena back into the game. With about 12 minutes left in the game, Auburn Arena was as loud as I’ve ever heard it and it didn’t quiet down the rest of the night. To me, this is the best game I’ve been to as a student and the crowd got their reward as the court was stormed following the completion of the game.

No. 3

Kareem Canty didn’t have a great game shooting-wise, but he still managed to score 26 points, especially when they mattered most scoring 21 in the second half. Canty this season has been either really good or really bad in each game depending on if his shot starts falling. If he’s making shots from deep, he can quickly take over a game by himself; however, if he isn’t quite making shots, he’ll definitely keep shooting, which tends to shut down Auburn’s offense. ]

On Saturday he only shot 7-of-20 and 5-of-12 for three-point range. Those aren’t great numbers, but when he has to play 39 minutes, he’s going to get his points. His first big three where he just isolated Alex Poythress and shot over him was huge for getting Auburn back into the game. Canty’s bank shot towards the end of the game to put Auburn up 2 points was the dagger in my mind. If that shot had missed, Kentucky would have still been up one and it would just have appeared to be another bad shot by Canty. Instead, it banked in and Auburn Arena went nuts for yet another time. All of the students got signs that said “KAR333M” and Canty justified it with his play. He’s still undoubtably Auburn’s best player and needs to be the leader as well.

No. 4

Auburn beat Kentucky straight up. Kentucky didn’t have a bad game, although it wasn’t their best either. The Wildcats missed their fair share of shots, but I think that can be credited to Auburn’s defense. Jamal Murray and Tyler Ulis were impressive all night long, but Auburn just kept hanging in there. Kentucky had more rebounds (+10); more points off turnovers (+7); more points in the paint (+16); more second chance points (+14); more fast break points (+3); and more bench points (+4) and yet Auburn still managed to win this game.

In the final minutes when Auburn had a slight lead, I’m sure there were several Auburn fans expecting another blown opportunity to get a big win. Instead, Kareem Canty and other players made big plays both on the boards and at the free throw line to seal the 5 point victory. Auburn even got to go out on their own terms as Bruce Pearl called a timeout with 1.2 seconds left to allow Kentucky’s players to evacuate to the locker rooms before the court was stormed.

This was Auburn’s first win over Kentucky in the last 18 tries and only the second win in the last 34 tries. It was a fun game, it was a competitive game, and it was a game that I would have enjoyed just as a basketball fan even if Auburn hadn’t come out on top. However, the Tigers did prevail and I’ll be hyped up for the rest of the 3-day weekend as we build up to another huge game against Alabama on Tuesday night in Auburn Arena. Seriously, this game was awesome and a very big win for the program, so it’s a shame Tony Barbee wasn’t there to see it in person.