Oscar Tshiebwe explains why he hopes Kentucky, Auburn meet again

No. 12 Kentucky had a halftime lead, but ended up losing to No. 2 Auburn on Saturday. After the game, Wildcats forward Oscar Tshiebwe had some poignant comments about the Tigers.

It was a great SEC top-25 matchup, with Auburn hanging on for an 80-71 win to make a strong case for that No. 1 ranking next week. Tshiebwe had another huge game, scoring 16 points and grabbing 14 rebounds in the effort.

After the game, he had some interesting comments about a potential rematch with Auburn down the road.

“I hope we match up with them again in the SEC Tournament when everybody is healthy and ready to go,” Tshiebwe said, via KSR’s Tyler Thompson. “Because I don’t think they are better than us, in my opinion. I think we’re going to beat them. I want to see them again.”

Bulletin board material?

Auburn’s put together quite a year. The Tigers are now 18-1 overall and 7-0 in SEC action. Their lone loss came No. 22 UConn 115-109 in 2OT at the Battle 4 Atlantis in November.

Kentucky, meanwhile, is now 15-4 on the year and 5-2 in league play. The Wildcats had won eight of their last 10 games heading into Saturday’s showdown with Auburn.

Kellan Grady sends message to Big Blue Nation following Auburn loss

Kentucky guard Kellan Grady isn’t concerned about the Wildcats’ 2021-22 season, despite falling 80-71 to Auburn on Saturday.

No. 2 Auburn (18-1, 10-0) may have just solidified the program’s first-ever AP No. 1 ranking with the win, as Bruce Pearl and the Tigers overcame a four-point halftime deficit en route to victory. No. 12 Kentucky (15-4, 5-2), on the other hand, was completely unable to stop Auburn’s offense in the second half, as the Tigers poured in 51 points and the Wildcats once again looked like a tale of two teams: there was the Kentucky team from last Saturday, which poured in 107 points and set several program records in an offensive clinic against Tennessee, and there was the Kentucky team from this Saturday, which flustered. None of that inconsistency seems to bother Grady, though, who believes the Wildcats’ future is bright.

“You don’t win a championship in January,” Grady said after the loss. “This obviously would have been a statement win, like the one vs. Tennessee. Disappointing but we’ve got to move on and see how we can get better.”

Grady turned in a couple season highs in the loss to Auburn. He played all 40 minutes on Saturday, a tally he had not reached in the 2021-22 season, and he dropped 17 points on 5-of-9 from the field, while adding two rebounds, one assist and two steals.