At Auburn, Kentucky basketball will be trying to do something that hasn’t been done
When No. 22-ranked Kentucky visits Auburn for its Saturday SEC clash with the 13th-ranked Tigers, UK will be trying to accomplish something that hasn’t been accomplished by any team this season: Beat Auburn at Auburn.
Bruce Pearl’s team is not just 13-0 in Neville Arena, the Tigers are flat-out dominating opponents in the cozy 9,000-seat facility they call “The Jungle.” For example, Auburn has won its six SEC home games by an average of 22.3 points.
The Tigers’ 101-61 demolition of visiting and 11th-ranked South Carolina on Wednesday was nearly par for the course. At home, Auburn defeated Texas A&M 66-55, LSU 93-78, Ole Miss 82-59, Vanderbilt 81-54 and Alabama 99-81 before trouncing the Gamecocks by 40.
Consider that Auburn is a mere 3-3 in conference road games. The Tigers have won at Arkansas 83-51, Vanderbilt 80-65 and Ole Miss 91-77. They’ve lost at Alabama 79-75, Mississippi State 64-58 and Florida 81-65.
The statistics show how much better Auburn has played at home than on the road in league play:
Auburn field goal percentage
Home - 48.4
Away - 44.9
Auburn 3-point percentage
Home - 38.5
Away - 30.1
Auburn free throw percentage
Home - 82.3
Away - 72.6
Auburn points per possession
Home - 1.211
Away - 1.086
Opponent field goal percentage
Home - 34.4
Away - 39.5
Opponent 3-point percentage
Home - 29.9
Away - 31.6
Opponent free throw percentage
Home - 77.1
Away - 69.6
Opponent points per possession
Home - 0.907
Away - 0.999
Look at Auburn’s Jaylin Williams, the 6-foot-8 senior forward averaging 13.4 points per game. In SEC road games, Williams has made 27 of his 57 shots for 47.4 percent. He’s a mere 4-of-17 from three-point range. In SEC home games, Williams has made 38 of 52 shots for a sizzling 73.1 percent. He’s 13-of-19 from three-point range. That’s an eye-popping 68.4 percent.
After going 3-of-10 from the floor in Auburn’s loss at Florida last Saturday, Williams made 8 of his 11 shots versus visiting South Carolina on Wednesday. He was 5-of-7 from three-point land against the Gamecocks. His 6-10 teammate Johni Broome was 4-of-5 from three, meaning the front court duo was 9-of-12 from beyond the arc. As a team, Auburn shot 61 percent from the floor.
Meanwhile, Kentucky is 3-2 in SEC road games. The Cats own wins at Florida 87-85, Arkansas 63-57 and Vanderbilt 109-77. They lost at Texas A&M 97-92 in overtime and at South Carolina 79-62.
As UK’s coach, John Calipari is 5-5 in games at Auburn. He is 1-5 in his last six trips, however. The lone win was 82-80 over the Tigers on Jan. 19, 2019. Since then, Kentucky has lost at Auburn 75-66 on Feb. 1, 2020; 66-59 on Jan. 16, 2021 and 80-71 on Jan. 22, 2022.
Heading into Saturday’s games, here are the SEC home and road records for conference teams.
SEC home records
Auburn 6-0
Alabama 5-0
Florida 5-1
South Carolina 5-1
Ole Miss 4-1
Miss State 4-1
Tennessee 4-1
Kentucky 4-2
Texas A&M 4-2
LSU 3-2
Georgia 2-3
Arkansas 2-4
Vanderbilt 2-4
Missouri 0-6
Total 50-28
SEC road records
Alabama 4-2
South Carolina 4-2
Tennessee 4-2
Kentucky 3-2
Auburn 3-3
Florida 2-3
Texas A&M 2-3
Georgia 2-4
Arkansas 1-4
LSU 1-5
Ole Miss 1-5
Miss State 1-5
Missouri 0-5
Vanderbilt 0-5
Total 28-50
Saturday
No. 22 Kentucky at No. 13 Auburn
When: 6 p.m. EST
TV: ESPN
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Records: Kentucky 17-7 (7-4), Auburn 19-5 (8-3)
Series: Kentucky leads 97-23
Last meeting: Kentucky won 86-54 on Feb. 25, 2023, in Lexington
Updated: SEC men’s college basketball standings and this week’s schedule
Here’s what this Kentucky basketball team can’t afford to do as it continues to evolve
How No. 22 Kentucky and No. 13 Auburn match up — with a game prediction
Kentucky made progress versus Ole Miss, but one win does not a breakthrough make
The NBA All-Star Game will be a showcase for Kentucky basketball. ‘We should be so happy.’
