So far, Auburn is "too small" vs. Kentucky; Cats lead by 10 at half

Kentucky came into this game with nothing to lose, almost a double-digit underdog vs. Auburn in a jam-packed arena where the Tigers haven’t lost a game all season. So far, it’s the Cats who are controlling the game. After 20 minutes of play, No. 22 Kentucky leads No. 13 Auburn 39-29.

To upset the Tigers, the Cats had to get off to a good start. They did on both ends of the floor. Kentucky led 11-2 at the 14:27 mark, stringing together multiple stops and benefitting from the Tigers missing some wide-open shots. Jaylin Williams brought the Tigers within four with 12:17 to go but DJ Wagner and Antonio Reeves pushed the lead back to nine in the next minute. After Adou Thiero threw down an alley-oop to push the lead to double digits with five minutes left, Tre Mitchell — who is out with a shoulder injury — did the “too small” gesture to the Auburn students, a flashback to Kentucky’s win at Florida.

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Kentucky’s Tre Mitchell with a message to the Auburn Tigers. #BBN pic.twitter.com/agcqaxLl0M
— David Scott (@Finna_Go_HAM) February 17, 2024

Outside of missed free throws, it’s hard to script a better first half for Kentucky. The Cats are shooting 48% from the floor while holding Auburn to 28%, 25% from three-point range. Another big stat? Kentucky has 15 points off six Auburn turnovers.

Rob Dillingham leads all scorers with 11 points, followed by Antonio Reeves with nine. Auburn’s “Splash Bros,” Jaylin Williams and Johni Broome, only have eight points combined on 4-13 shooting.

Check out all of the numbers and some highlights below. Keep it up, Cats!