It was another historic weekend for the Auburn basketball team. The Tigers took down Kentucky in Rupp Arena for the first time since 1988 and, with Alabama's buzzer-beater loss to Tennessee, clinched the outright SEC regular season title.
Miles Kelly led the way for the Tigers, dropping 30 points and making an outstanding nine out of 14 three-pointers. Chad Baker-Mazara and Tahaad Pettiford added 22 and 21 points, respectively, showing up in a big way for Auburn on a day where Johni Broome could not get going offensively.
It was a massive win for head coach Bruce Pearl and the Tigers in their pursuit of a national championship. Here's what the team had to say about the victory.
Miles Kelly on his insane shooting day, per Auburn Undercover:
"I mean, I just came out feeling it... Rupp rims, I love them. It felt good. Every time I shot the ball, I thought it was going in. My teammates did a great job of finding me."
Tahaad Pettiford on stepping up in Denver Jones' absence, per Auburn Rivals:
“Knowing Deuce (Jones) was going down, I was just having to step up as a freshman. I was prepared. Coach puts us in situations like this, so when the time presented itself, I was ready.”
Pearl on breaking the losing streak in Rupp Arena, per Auburn Undercover:
"There are times I've brought great teams in here and we've gotten spanked. Every now and then, I'd walk away going, 'You know, I thought that Pearl could coach a little bit.' And so, I want to bring a team in here, and I want to play good basketball. I want to honor the game, whether we win or lose. And we've played well a couple times and gotten beat. But this is obviously historic. Two wins and 31 losses in 33 tries. And for this one to be for a championship, it's what we do it for, to make history. This is our fifth team in the last eight years that has won a regular season or tournament championship. So, I'm just super proud and super happy about that."
The Tigers return to action on Tuesday when they play Texas A&M in College Station.