What we learned from Kentucky basketball's win at Auburn

Courier Journal

AUBURN, Ala. – No. 14 Kentucky hit three free throws in the final 25 seconds to hold on to an 82-80 win over No. 12 Auburn.

After a Jared Harper 3-pointer with 32 seconds remaining gave Auburn its first lead since the 4:10 mark in the first half, Herro hit two free throws to give UK back the lead. Harper's attempt at a game-winning layup rimmed out on the next possession, and Immanuel Quickley grabbed the rebound to earn a spot at the line, where he hit 1 of 2 attempts.

Samir Doughty's halfcourt heave at the buzzer then bounced out the rim to secure the Kentucky victory.

"We’re lucky to get out of here alive," UK coach John Calipari said. "We’re lucky he missed that little shot."

Keldon Johnson and Tyler Herro led Kentucky with 20 points each and were joined in double figures by Reid Travis (17), and PJ Washington (13). UK point guard Ashton Hagans contributed six points, seven rebounds, six assists and one steal. Herro scored 10 of his 20 points in the final 5:23 of the game.

Auburn missed 8 of its first 9 3-point attempts in the game but hit its next 4 to take a 3-point lead with 5:36 left in the first half. The Tigers would not convert another field goal in the half though as Kentucky rattled off a 13-2 run to take an eight-point lead into the locker room. The Wildcats then scored 10 of the first 12 points of the second half to stretch the lead to 16 at 45-29.

"The defense we played in the first half, gave us a chance," Calipari said. "The start of the second half, they went zone. We were waiting on it. We started screaming when they went zone to start the second half. If you noticed, we were laughing. We were waiting for them to do that.

"... But, when you have a team that makes 3s like this, they’re never out of the game."

Kentucky led by as many as 17 points in the second half, but the Auburn Arena crowd returned to full roar after an 11-2 Tigers run briefly cut the lead to eight points with 15:28 remaining. On the ensuing possession, Herro appeared to lose control of the ball but recovered in time to dish to Johnson for a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to kill the momentum.

Auburn was not finished though as Bryce Brown rattled off 25 of his 28 points in the second half to set up Harper's late go-ahead 3-pointer.

With former five-star post recruit Austin Wiley out for Auburn with an injury, Kentucky earned a 38-24 advantage in points in the paint and 9-2 advantage in second-chance points.

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Here’s what we learned from the Kentucky win:

► Player driven: For weeks, Calipari has been urging his players to take control of the team instead of depending on coaches to lead from the sideline. Perhaps we finally saw some of that early at Auburn when television cameras caught Hagans appearing to yell at Johnson to “wake up” (with an expletive thrown in) after Johnson was caught not looking for a fast-break pass that sailed out of bounds. While players yelling at each other on camera might not be the look Calipari was going for, Hagans has earned the right to call out teammates with his play of late. And it appeared to work Saturday as Johnson, who did not score in UK’s Tuesday win at Georgia, looked far more assertive after returning to the court later in the game.

"We all know we have each other's back," Johnson said. "... You just got to accept it. If they're telling me something, they're not going to do it just because. They're doing it because they want what's best for me and what's best for the team."

► Resume builder: It’s still too early to lump Kentucky in with Tennessee in the top tier of Southeastern Conference teams, but the win at Auburn sends a signal to the league that the preseason favorites are trending back in the direction of a top-three seed in the NCAA Tournament. UK’s resume now includes a neutral site win over North Carolina and road wins at Louisville and Auburn. All three of those teams were ranked in the top 20 of the NCAA’s new NET metric entering Saturday’s games. Kentucky’s worst loss of the season — at Alabama — looks a little better after Saturday too as the Crimson Tide lost by just three points at Tennessee. Kentucky could move back into the top 10 in Monday’s polls with marquee games against No. 23 Mississippi State and No. 8 Kansas looming at Rupp Arena this week.

► Return to form: After being held to single digits in points in three straight games, Travis broke out of a slump that dated back to the second half of Kentucky’s SEC opener at Alabama. Against Auburn, Travis hit 6 of 7 field-goal attempts and all five free throws to finish with 17 points and seven rebounds. He set the tone early with seven points, five rebounds and a block before picking up his second foul with eight minutes left in the first half. Travis then helped put the game away with 10 second-half points, including eight as Auburn threatened to claw back into the game.

Jon Hale: jahale@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @JonHale_CJ. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/jonh.