Saturday’s game between Auburn and Kentucky had the makings of being a barn burner for the first 15 minutes of game time.
However, when the Wildcats gained control with 5:03 remaining in the first half, they turned on the jets and left Auburn in the dust. Kentucky outscored Auburn 71-50 over the game’s final 25 minutes to win big, 86-54.
Kentucky built an 11-point halftime lead and led by as many as 40-points before an 8-0 run by Auburn trimmed the lead to 32 points by the game’s end.
Auburn head coach [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag] was less than thrilled with his team’s performance.
“It was just awful on all ends of the court,” Pearl said Saturday following his team’s loss to Kentucky. “We got beat in every facet of the game. We weren’t competitive. We were obviously ready to play because we played well early but from the last four minutes of the first half all the way through the second half, a very, very poor performance–a very, very poor effort. I apologize to our fans for such a letdown.”
As a result, Auburn’s place in the latest KenPom rankings has suffered drastically. With two games remaining in the regular season, Auburn will need to play incredibly well in order to boost their chances for a comfortable NCAA seeding. The road will not be easy as their final two opponents, Alabama and Tennessee closed Saturday as top-five teams in the KenPom.
Here’s how Saturday’s loss affects Auburn in the latest KenPom ranking update: