The Auburn Tigers had a gameplan that Kentucky head football coach Mark Stoops would have loved, as Tony Barbee’s squad tried to push around the Wildcats and pound out an upset win in Rupp Arena.
The Wildcats proved to be too tough as they gritted out a 72-62 win to improve their SEC record to 8-2 on the season.
Auburn was called for 1 Flagrant 1 foul and Tigers’ forward Jordon Granger was ejected in the 1st half after throwing a punch at Archie Goodwin.
The Cats fought back with a ton of intensity, led by Jarrod Polson and Willie Cauley-Stein, and Nerlens Noel got hot from the free throw line to hold serve at home.
The Wildcats travel to Florida on Tuesday for the biggest game of the year.
Official Basketball Box Score
Official Basketball Box Score Auburn vs Kentucky 02/09/13 4:00 pm at Rupp Arena - Lexington, KY ------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------- VISITORS: Auburn 9-14, 3-7 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 02 Payne,Allen......... f 2-5 1-1 0-1 0 1 1 2 5 0 0 0 0 17 25 Granger,Jordon...... f 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 41 Chubb,Rob........... f 3-5 0-0 1-2 0 1 1 5 7 0 0 0 0 17 11 Wallace,Josh........ g 1-6 0-0 1-2 3 0 3 4 3 4 3 0 1 34 23 Sullivan,Frankie.... g 3-9 2-3 0-0 0 7 7 3 8 3 2 0 1 24 00 Dixon-Tatum,Asauhn.. 0-1 0-0 2-2 0 2 2 5 2 0 2 2 1 16 03 Denson,Chris........ 7-10 0-0 1-2 2 2 4 0 15 1 0 0 0 29 05 Johnson,Shaquille... 2-5 0-1 6-8 4 1 5 2 10 1 1 0 0 23 10 Price,Jordan........ 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 8 32 Johnson,Noel........ 4-8 4-7 0-0 0 3 3 4 12 0 1 0 0 28 TEAM................ 2 2 Totals.............. 22-51 7-13 11-17 9 20 29 29 62 9 9 2 3 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-29 37.9% 2nd Half: 11-22 50.0% Game: 43.1% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-9 66.7% 2nd Half: 1-4 25.0% Game: 53.8% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 3-5 60.0% 2nd Half: 8-12 66.7% Game: 64.7% 1,1 ------------------------------ ------------------------------ -------------------- HOME TEAM: Kentucky 17-6, 8-2 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 03 Noel, Nerlens....... f 1-2 0-0 8-13 4 8 12 2 10 1 2 1 1 32 22 Poythress, Alex..... f 3-5 0-1 2-2 1 1 2 4 8 2 2 0 1 27 10 Goodwin, Archie..... g 1-6 0-1 1-4 1 1 2 4 3 1 2 1 0 17 12 Harrow, Ryan........ g 3-6 1-3 5-6 0 1 1 3 12 1 0 2 0 26 34 Mays, Julius........ g 2-8 2-8 4-4 0 6 6 3 10 2 0 0 0 37 05 Polson, Jarrod...... 1-3 1-2 0-0 1 2 3 1 3 2 1 0 1 20 15 Cauley-Stein, Willie 5-5 0-0 2-5 2 2 4 3 12 1 0 0 0 19 33 Wiltjer, Kyle....... 4-11 2-6 4-4 1 2 3 1 14 2 2 0 1 22 TEAM................ 1 1 2 1 Totals.............. 20-46 6-21 26-38 11 24 35 21 72 12 10 4 4 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-29 41.4% 2nd Half: 8-17 47.1% Game: 43.5% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-14 28.6% 2nd Half: 2-7 28.6% Game: 28.6% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 9-14 64.3% 2nd Half: 17-24 70.8% Game: 68.4% 6,1 ------------------------------ ------------------------------ -------------------- Officials: Tony Greene, Mark Whitehead, Steven Anderson Technical fouls: Auburn-Granger,Jordon. Kentucky-Goodwin, Archie. Attendance: 24253 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Auburn........................ 31 31 - 62 Kentucky...................... 37 35 - 72
Photo: @derekpoore
