AUBURN, Alabama Auburn’s seemingly unstoppable atmosphere was destroyed at home by Antonio Reeves and Kentucky. Furthermore, the consequences of the defeat might go beyond the SEC rankings.
The 16-game home winning streak of the 13th-ranked Tigers, which included two straight lopsided victories over ranked teams, came to an end on Saturday night as Reeves scored 22 points and No. 22 Kentucky took the lead throughout to defeat cold-shooting Auburn 70-59.
Midway through the second half, Tigers (20-6, 9-4 SEC), who had trailed No. 15 Alabama in the conference, lost their second-leading scorer, Jaylin Williams, to a right knee injury. Williams finished with just three points on 1-of-5 shooting and needed assistance leaving the court after falling beneath the hoop.
Bruce Pearl, the Auburn coach, announced that Williams would get an MRI on Sunday.
Pearl stated, “We were in range when he got hurt.”
The Wildcats(18-7,8-4) answered to every challenge in the second half and limited Auburn to 30.9% shooting. A player taking over a pivotal game like Reeves did, according to Kentucky coach John Calipari, is a positive sign for the NCAA tournament.
“Today, it was Antonio,” Calipari declared. “It’s huge when one guy can go as well as he did in those games.
“We have multiple guys that can go and do stuff like that.”
For Auburn, Johni Broome and Chad Baker-Mazara each scored fourteen points. Denver Jones scored twelve.
