Auburn’s Williams (knee) leaves loss to Kentucky
Feb 17, 2024, 10:29 PM ET
AUBURN, Ala.– Antonio Reeves and Kentucky stripped away Auburn’s aura of invincibility in your home. And the loss might be more expensive than simply in the SEC standings.Reeves scored 22 points
and No. 22 Kentucky led throughout to beat cold-shooting Auburn 70-59 on Saturday night, ending the 13th-ranked Tigers ’16-game home winning streak that had actually included two straight routs of ranked teams.The Tigers(20-6, 9-4 SEC), who had been second in the conference behind No. 15 Alabama, lost their second-leading scorer, Jaylin Williams, to an ideal knee injury midway through the 2nd half. Williams was assisted off the court after decreasing beneath the basket and finished with just three points on 1-of-5 shooting.Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said Williams would have an MRI on Sunday.”We were in variety when he got hurt,”
Pearl said.The Wildcats (18-7, 8-4) held Auburn to 30.9% shooting and responded to every difficulty in the 2nd half. Kentucky coach John Calipari
said having a player take control of a big game like Reeves did is an encouraging indication for the NCAA competition.”Today was Antonio,”Calipari stated.”When one guy can go do what he did in those games, it’s huge.” We have multiple guys that can go and do stuff like
that.” Johni Broome and Chad Baker-Mazara scored 14 each for Auburn. Denver Jones scored 12.
Adou Thiero, who started while Tre Mitchell was out with a left shoulder injury, had 14 points and 8 rebounds for Kentucky. Rob Dillingham added 11 points.Editor’s Picks 2 Associated”Coming into the game, no one thought we were going to win the game, “said Kentucky center Ugonna Onyenso, who had seven points and 11 rebounds.”No one really thought in us
, so we entered the game with nothing to lose.” Broome’s layup cut Auburn’s deficit to 5 points with about 13 minutes staying. Then Reeves took over, scoring 13 of Kentucky’s next 17 points. When he was done, the Wildcats were up a game-high 16 points, 64-48. Reeves said he was determined to play physical down the stretch and Auburn had little response for his drives.”I just got it going after that, and the guys tried to find me at the end of the game, “Reeves said.Kentucky’s Justin Edwards fouled out with 4 points.The Tigers had a hard time after dominating No. 11 South Carolina 101-61 on Wednesday night,
following an 18-point win over the Crimson Tide. Broome and Williams combined for 9 3-pointers versus the Gamecocks but missed all five efforts on Saturday.
“Kentucky can secure and they can turn it up when they wish to, and they beat us this evening, “Pearl said.” We knew their guards were excellent and late in the game when it boiled down to simply getting good shots and keeping us at bay, they were able to do that.”Calipari informed press reporters that he planned to head to Indianapolis for the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday. Seven of his previous players were picked. “The most ever from one school in an All-Star Video game was 4– that’s by us,”Calipari stated. “So we’ve got 7.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.