How Auburn basketball rallied to beat Kentucky, secure first place in SEC

AUBURN — K.D Johnson went bounding to the corner of the court, something of a routine celebration for him at this point. It's a certain luxury, too: Barely anybody else in Auburn Arena had space to move. The place was a party, regardless of the sleep-deprived students filling the student section.

They made the most of what vertical space they had.

Jump for joy, Auburn fans.

In case the college basketball world needed one more argument for this team's legitimacy as a championship contender, the Tigers delivered it.

Auburn rallied from an early 10-point deficit and toppled No. 12 Kentucky 80-71 on Saturday, giving the No. 2 Tigers (18-1, 7-0 SEC) their 15th consecutive win and securing first place in the SEC.

"We held serve; we did what we were supposed to do," coach Bruce Pearl said. "There wasn't a lot of water splashing around our locker room. We didn't win a championship. We're not cutting down nets. We were good enough today to beat a really good team."

Finding looks for Kessler turned it around

Auburn expected a battle in the paint from Kentucky. On defense, the Wildcats recovered from double-teams with amazing speed, limiting Auburn's outside attempts early.

The Tigers slowly started to match Kentucky's physicality, fighting to get Walker Kessler more looks. He reached 11 points by halftime on four dunks – all in the last eight minutes and two in the last 45 seconds – to cut it to 33-29.

"I just saw that we got our flow going," Johnson said.

Then Kessler continued to change the game at both ends in the second half, containing Oscar Tshiebwe on defense and getting free for lobs on offense. He finished with 19 points and seven rebounds, leading all scorers. Auburn scored 51 points in the second half, becoming the first team to score 80 on Kentucky.

"He's a big strong dude," Kessler said of Tshiebwe. "But it was a lot of fun down there."

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Kentucky's guards created second chances, then an injury happened

Kentucky, the nation's leading team in rebound margin, had six offensive boards and 12 second-chance points by halftime. That's largely a credit to its guards. Auburn had trouble keeping up with them, on and off the ball. Sahvir Wheeler and Tyty Washington blew by their matchups a few times, which forced the Tigers' big men off the block into help defense. Missed layups were an easy clean-up job.

But after Washington went down with an injury in the first half, Kentucky was never the same. Auburn outscored the Wildcats by 13 and out-rebounded them 15-11 in the second half.

"That was the game plan: We've all got to box out," Kessler said. "Not just the five and four."

Antsy early, Auburn's turnovers dig hole

The ball seemed more slippery in the Tigers' hands early. Backup center Dylan Cardwell had the yips, fumbling it a few times in his first rotation that was prolonged by a long stretch without a dead ball. Auburn fell behind by 10 before Kessler checked back in. The Wildcats face-guarded; Wendell Green's wrap-around pass attempts to Kessler led to more loose balls than buckets.

Every time Auburn started to make a run in the first half, a turnover killed it. Fifteen of the Wildcats' 33 points were off turnovers.

Auburn guards get clicking

But it was a mass turnaround effort. One of the most impressive aspects of this Auburn team is that its three primary guards serve different roles. The one with the least hype is Zep Jasper, a College of Charleston transfer.

Jasper righted the ship Saturday, showing again that he's a consistent defender who doesn't make mistakes running the offense. In his 17 minutes, he was a team-high plus-17 despite just two points. Auburn's quiet glue.

"He's so solid defensively," Pearl said. "He's so unselfish."

Green didn't make a 3-pointer in the first half. Kentucky neutralized his usual craftiness, but the fearless shooter can inevitably change games in an instant. Tied at 45, he hit two 3-pointers in under a minute to put the Tigers up 51-47. They kept that lead the rest of the game.

And Johnson played one of his most efficient offensive games, scoring 17 points on an efficient 3-for-5 mark outside, 4-for-6 overall.

"It's the sum of our parts," Pearl said.

Jabari Smith, the closer

What more can you say? The NBA-bound freshman hits at least one big shot down the stretch every game. This time, as Kentucky closed it to 68-64 in the last three minutes, he got the ball on the elbow late in the shot clock. With a pro's step-back, he drained a smooth shot to go up six.

"There are nine really good players out there, and there are times when we have No. 10 and you don't," Pearl said. "It was time for No. 10 to step up."

Smith finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks on his biggest stage yet.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: How Auburn basketball rallied to beat Kentucky, secure first place in SEC