Kentucky Basketball: 5 more thoughts and post-game notes after the Wildcats win over Auburn



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The Kentucky Wildcats had their first test without Reid Travis in a rematch against the Auburn Tigers. The Cats won the first match 82-80 on January 19th and they supported with a dominant victory at Rupp Arena.

From the beginning, it was obvious that cats were ready to play. PJ Washington came out of the door, ready to leave since he had 11 of the Cat's first 13 points.

The aggression and availability that PJ demonstrated was contagious, with the rest of the team sharing her energy, which made basketball half fun. The Cats led 25-15 with just under 8 minutes to finish.

That lead would go to 36-17 before Auburn made a big run to reduce the lead to 38-31. From that moment, the Cats close the half on a 7-0 run to take a 45-31 lead in the break.

After half-time, it was all Kentucky.

A rider from Ashton Hagans quickly pushed the lead to 20 just two minutes after the start of halftime, bringing the score to 51-31.

The cats continued to roll and the head continued to grow. With just under 12 minutes remaining, the advance had reached 30.

The rest of the way was simply running and avoiding injury, and that's exactly what the cats did when they crashed Auburn for the 80-53 win.

Reflections on the game

Johnson he's crushed the glass

Without Reid Travis, some feared bouncing back without him. He's so successful at getting boards and keeping his opponents out.

Someone was going to have to step in and it was Keldon Johnson. He did not have the best shooting night because he had only 8 points on a 3/8 shot, but he managed 17 rebounds.

He had a lot of twists and turns this season, but this one was at a completely different level. With Travis eliminated, Johnson will play the other 4 and ask to bounce back against 3. If this continues, Kentucky will continue to play at a high level, even when Travis will be away, as we have seen in this game. .

The rebound was a complete team effort in this one, however, as the Cats dominated the glass and surpassed Auburn 43-24.

PJ continued to dominate

The last 10 games of PJ Washington have been one of the best moments of my career because it plays at an extremely high level.

He had 24 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and a block, not to mention that he was impressive 5/8 on a three point pitch.

PJ's change from first year to second year is incredible and is a perfect example of why it's a good idea for players to come back to the university to prepare for the repechage. He has also become one of the best college basketball players as the NCAA tournament gets closer and closer. If he continues to play this way, cats will have a great chance of getting to Minneapolis.

Hagans rider becomes a weapon

Ashton Hagans was not the best shooter of the season, but we have seen him being able to shoot shots from time to time.

It was one of these times, since it was 6/8 from the field and 2/4 from three en route for a 14-point performance. He also had five assists, one rebound and one robbery. By threatening to hit the jumpers, Auburn was forced not to pack the paint as much as the teams did when Hagans arrived, paving the way for a bigger offensive for everyone.

The Hagans we saw in this one are the Hagans we need for a big run in March. If he starts to play well, the opposing teams are in trouble.

EJ Montgomery intensified

EJ Montgomery started in the absence of Travis and he took a big step forward since he had 6 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals and 3 blocks.

We all knew that Nick Richards or EJ Montgomery had to step in and in this one, it was EJ. Its impact limited the Tigers to just 11 two-point shots and Kentucky won the 43-24 return match.

If Kentucky can continue to win without Travis, extra minutes for Nick and EJ will only be positive for this team.

Herro burn again Auburn

Until this season, Tyler's best games have all been on the road. That included a 20-point exit and free throws on fire in the win at Auburn.

But he sometimes had trouble shooting the ball well at home. In this one, however, he managed to shoot down since he was 6/12 from the field and 3/6 to three to finish with 17 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists.

This was his best points total in Rupp since the 18 January win over Mississippi in which he scored 18.

Even though NCAA tournament games are taking place outside the Rupp Arena, it's always good and important to see him succeed at home, especially if the games are played primarily at home in Louisville.

The Cats will be back at home when the Arkansas Razorbacks go to Rupp Arena on Tuesday night. This match will be aired at 9:00 pm EST on the SEC network.

Now here are the notes and post-match milestones, courtesy of UK Athletics:

Team records and series notes

  • Kentucky is now 23-4 overall and takes third place in the first place of the Southeastern Conference with a 12-2 record in the league. The United Kingdom has won 13 of its last 14 games.
  • Auburn is now 18-9 overall and 7-7 in the league.
  • The 27-point win is the Wildcat's biggest win against Auburn since winning the 110-75 Tigers in the memorable 2014-15 season.
  • Kentucky leads the all-time series 94-19 and has now won two straight wins.
  • The United Kingdom leads 48-2 in games played at Lexington.

In the first half

  • Kentucky started the combination of Ashton Hagans, Tyler Herro, Keldon Johnson, PJ Washington and EJ Montgomery for the first time this season.
  • It was Montgomery's second start of the season.
  • Washington scored three goals in three in the first six minutes, giving the Wildcats a 13-6 lead.
  • Before 25-17, the United Kingdom led 11-0, led by Herro, to 3 points, to give the Cats their biggest lead of the match at 36-17.
  • Auburn responded quickly with a 14-2 push to shoot in the 38-31.
  • The UK came back with the last seven half-points, topped off by another 3-pointer Herro, to bring the score to 45-31 at intermission.
  • The United Kingdom has nine points in three points – four by Washington and three by Herro – the highest number of all time (50) since the match against Tennessee on February 14, 2017 (10 points).

In the second half

  • The Wildcats started the same lineup with a 11-0 record to finish at 56-31. With the end of the first half, the 18-0 series of the United Kingdom is the longest of the season.
  • The United Kingdom extended the lead to 33 points at 67-34 with 10:52 to go.

Team notes

  • Kentucky limits Auburn to a low point of the season by 53 points. The other SEC opponents who were held at the bottom of the season, two of which were eclipsed earlier this week:

47 against Vanderbilt on Jan. 12 (since eclipsed, VU scored the season 46 low at Tenn. Feb. 19), 49 at Georgia Jan. 15, 55 against the state of Mississippi Jan. 22, 48 against South Carolina on February 5, 69 vs. Tennessee on February 16 (since eclipsed, UT scored the lowest of the 58 season against VU on February 19) and 53 against Auburn on February 23.

  • The United Kingdom is 72-0 under coach John Calipari when his opponent is limited to 55 points or less, including 8-0 this season.
  • Auburn shot 32.8% of the field. The UK has an average of 177-15 (-922) under Calipari while keeping the opponent at 40% or less, including 13-0 this season.
  • Kentucky shot 54.5% on the field today, the eleventh game of the Wildcat season with at least 50%. The Wildcats are 11-0 in these games.
  • The United Kingdom scored 11 points at 3 points, the second best performance for the Wildcats this season.
  • Kentucky won the 43-24 rebound battle and points in the paint with 30-22. The UK is now 19-2 this season to win / tie the rebound and 20-3 to go in the paint.
  • Kentucky has won 13 of its last 14 games. During this 14-game period, the United Kingdom limited its opponents to 38.0%, 31.4% to 3 points and 60.1 points per game.

Player Notes

  • PJ Washington led the way with 24 points, his sixth straight game for the United Kingdom.
  • He made a career record with five three points.
  • It's his 10th game at 20 points of the season and his eighth in the last 10 games.
  • He's averaged 21.0 points in the last 10 games.
  • He has 12 consecutive double-digit games.
  • Keldon Johnson Eight points, a career high of 17 rebounds and a career high of five assists.
  • Tyler Herro scored 17 points, including 3 out of 6 on 3 points.
  • United Kingdom is 14-0 this season while it scores at least 15.
  • United Kingdom is 7-0 this season when it makes at least three 3-pointers.
  • Nick Richards scored four points and captured three rebounds.
  • UK is 11-0 this season when Richards scores at least four points.
  • Ashton Hagans scored 14 points, the most for him since Jan. 23 in Georgia, Jan. 15.
  • He only shot 5-27 on 3 – pointers coming this week, but he shot 2-4 today and Missouri on Tuesday as well.
  • Making his second start of the season, EJ Montgomery has accumulated six points and seven rebounds while equalizing his best career result for shots blocked with three rejections.

Calipari

  • Calipari is now 298-68 in the UK.
  • With today's win, he passes Joe B. Hall for the second-biggest victory of a British head coach in the program's history.
  • Calipari has a record of 743-208 on the field.
  • The UK is 241-40 against unrated competition under Calipari.
  • He now has three wins over the No. 300 Kentucky win.
  • Calipari is now 11-2 against Auburn of all time.

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