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8 hours ago
AP
A basketball team that shows good balance can be difficult to defend against. That’s what Kentucky displayed on Saturday against Auburn.
The Cats had four players in double figures to beat the Tigers 86-54 at Rupp Arena. The win was Kentucky’s fourth in a row and moved the Cats to 20-9 on the season and 11-5 in the Southeastern Conference with two regular season games.
Oscar Tshiebwe led the Cats with 22 points and 17 rebounds, his 44th career double-double. Antonio Reeves had 21 points, including making four of seven from behind the arc. Cason Wallace had 19 points and nine assists, while Jacob Toppin had another double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Early in Saturday’s game, Auburn beat Kentucky at its own game. The Tigers were on the offensive page early and often and got the extra possessions the Cats had in the last three games.
However, those numbers would ultimately go in Kentucky’s favor and the Cats would get 12 offensive rebounds to Auburn’s 10. UK had 14 second chance points compared to just seven for Auburn.
The Cats could also beat the Tigers at their own game. Auburn is known for taking, and making, a lot of threes. But in this game, Reeves and the Cats hit eight threes to just seven for the Tigers.
Kentucky made 32 of 57 (56.1 percent) shots from the floor, including eight of 13 (61.5 percent) from behind the arc. Meanwhile, the Cats held Auburn to 19 of 56 (33.9 percent) from the floor and just seven of 21 (33.3 percent) from behind the arc. The Cats forced 13 Auburn turnovers and turned it into 23 points.
Auburn (19-10, 9-7) got 13 points from Jaylin Williams and 12 points from Morehead State transfer Johni Broome.
Kentucky plays its final home game of the season Wednesday against Vanderbilt. Tipoff is set for 7 pm and the game can be seen on the SEC Network.
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