Oscar Tshiebwe had 16 points, 14 rebounds, four blocks and two steals against Auburn and still believes UK is the better team. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Kentucky lost the game but not its swag or belief about what kind of team it has. No. 2 Auburn scored 51 points in the second half to rally for an 80-71 win over Kentucky. However, there was a lot for UK to still like.
— Kentucky had 29 field goals to 25 for Auburn. Host Auburn went 24-for-29 at the foul line and three times made three free throws when fouled on 3-point shots. Kentucky was only 8-for-10 at the foul line (the Tigers were only called for three fouls in the first half).
— Kentucky outscored Auburn 42-32 in the paint as Oscar Tshiebwe had 16 points on 7-for-12 shooting along with 14 rebounds, including four of UK’s 10 offensive rebounds.
— Kentucky outscored the Tigers 16-6 on fast break points.
— Kentucky shot 50 percent (29 of 58) overall from the field and got 17 points from both Sahvir Wheeler and Kellan Grady, who was 4-for-7 from 3-point range.
Throw in that leading scorer TyTy Washington had played only nine minutes — and had four points on 2-for-4 shooting — when he injured his ankle and did not return.
It’s no wonder the Cats were already eager for a rematch with Auburn, which could only happen in the SEC Tournament or maybe the NCAA Tournament.
“We hope to see them again,” Grady said.
Wheeler also missed about four minutes in the second half when he again slammed full speed into a screen by Auburn’s Walker Kessler. It was the same scenario that happened early in the LSU game that put Wheeler out for the reason of that game and two more games.
“I wish we had TyTy and Sahvir,” Tshiebwe said. “We could leave this place with a win.
“I hope we match up with them again — probably in the SEC Tournament — when everybody will be healthy and ready to go.”
Why does Tshiebwe want a rematch?
“Because I don’t think they’re better than us, in our opinion. I think we’re going to beat them. I want to play them again. I want to see them,” Tshiebwe said.
However, the Cats do respect Auburn, the SEC leader and potential No. 1 team in the nation this week.
“Auburn is a great team. I think it’s that simple,” Grady said.
He also said injuries were no excuse for losing.
“I think we had the potential to win this game. Looking back, I think we’ll recognize that, and think this one slipped away,” Grady said. “It’s no secret that we’re one of the best teams in the country.
“I think that’s well recognized around the basketball world. Although we didn’t play well enough to win, we showed that we’ve got a lot of collective fight. We want to be our best in March. We’ll get better from it.”
7 Responses
Me too, with a healthy squad I really think we would have won this game. Heck we still had a chance late in the game. I like the fact they didn’t quit something our past teams has lack. This team will go far if we can stay healthy.
Wheeler was hurt in those two games by the same thing. A 7 footer left the part of the floor where the basket was located and ran to the opposite end of the floor where the 5′ 9" defender was trying to guard his opponent guard and set a pick ???? A pick for what? The basket was on the other end of the court. Also another common thing was the "coach" of the opposite team has either served a suspension in the prior year like Bruce Pearl or is currently under investigation for paying all of his players like Will Wade. I wonder if those coaches will get away with that tactic. Ralph Beard accepted $500 for not running up the score so gamblers could beat the betting odds. He was banned from basketball for that. Will Wade is paid 2.5 million each year and Bruce Pearl gets around 3 million each year.
Can anybody explain that for me???
Auburn has been slap with a probation period, but still can play in post season tournament. As far LSU they haven’t done nothing to date, why it’s taken so long NCAA has drag it’s feet for years. NCAA did come out last week stated there going to change the way they investigate the rules that’s been broken and be more swiftly to make a ruling quicker than they had previous years. Will that happen I doubtful as long the head man Mark is leading the way.
That kind of play in basketball, a blind screen,that these two opponents have executed against Savir twice now should be handled just like a "targeting" call is handled in football. If they don’t do something about it, a young man is going to get hurt, and maybe seriously hurt. With the crowd noise they had there Saturday, you would never hear a warning from your team-mate. Wheeler has his head down looking to drive the ball, or find an open team-mate to pass to. Oscar said he yelled out, but Wheeler ran into a brick wall in Kessler, it was lights out again. It might be legal now, but that is a BS defensive play and very apt to cause serious injury. I say in a situation like that the defender should be the one who has to give the warning, or at least give ground in a crouched defensive position in order to try and avoid a collision from a ball handler who does not see him.
Thank you LarryPup. I was reluctant to express my thoughts but you agree with me, it is like illegal use targeting in football. I’m senstive to that because I was on the Thin Thirty Football team and those coaches actually coached us to target. Consequently I don’t remember much about those practices because we used our helmets in our opponents chest and heads. I have had a scan of my brain recently and was told I had encephalomalacia of my frontal lobes of my brain which is caused by trauma.
But I think it might have been a blessing because it is similar to having had a frontal lobotomy which is used to treat emotional issues.
Look for more of the same from Auburn now that they were rewarded with the Number 1 ranking
Calipari said to expect more of it from other teams now too Claude