By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
Auburn has been unbeatable at home this season. Kentucky will try to change that when the Wildcats take on the Tigers Saturday.
No. 22 Kentucky (17-7, 7-4 Southeastern Conference) faces a tough task against No. 13 Auburn, which is 13-0 at Neville Arena this year and carries a 17-game home winning streak.
In their last outing, the Tigers (20-5, 9-3) rolled to a 101-61 win over No. 11 South Carolina, providing Auburn with a dose of confidence going into the showdown with the Wildcats.
“They played some inspired, determined, intentional basketball,” South Carolina coach Lamont Paris said. “(It was all) in their energy, in their demeanor, in their defensive effort.”
Following a Valentine’s Day blowout of the Gamecocks, Auburn and its fan base began setting their sights on Kentucky, which has lost its past three games on the Plains.
“There’s no better opportunity than having Kentucky, national television, College GameDay,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “I’m so happy for Auburn. It’s going to be a gorgeous weekend, we have students sleeping out already right now for the game.”
Unlike the Tigers, Kentucky has struggled at home, a rarity for the Wildcats. Prior to a 75-63 win over Ole Miss Tuesday night, Kentucky had lost its previous three encounters to Florida, Tennessee and Gonzaga, respectively at home. The win over the Rebels gave the Wildcats renewed confidence.
“That win was big,” Kentucky freshman Reed Sheppard said. “It was big that we were all having fun out there, all getting physical, and all playing as a team.
“We never lost confidence in each other or in the team when we lost. We knew we had to keep getting better and keep fighting. We had a great couple days of practices and everyone’s mindset was also great coming into this game.”
In the win over the Rebels, Kentucky made it difficult in the post for the opponent with 12 blocked shots. Ugonna Onyenso played a big role in the swat party with 10 blocks, the most blocked shots by a Wildcat at Rupp Arena.
Onyenso hopes the win over Ole Miss will be a “turning point for us” and added that building on the performance will be a key against Pearl’s squad.
“We have to bring it coming into Saturday and stay locked in,” he said. “If we do the same thing we did today, we have a good chance of winning that game. It all comes down to defense.”
Kentucky coach John Calipari agreed and said the Wildcats are beginning to make strides on the defensive end of the floor.
“It’s just going to be a process,” he said. “I keep saying to everybody that we will break through. We will.”
Ole Miss coach Chris Beard came away impressed with Kentucky’s defense and added the team’s offense feeds off defense.
“To me, their best offense is their defense,” Beard said. “if they can get a turnover there’s elite guys with hand speed, (Reed) Sheppard is a steal guy, the shots they blocked shots at the goal just kind of fuels their offense.”
Gametracker: Kentucky at Auburn, 6 p.m., Saturday. TV/Radio: ESPN, UK Radio Network.