Kentucky used a second-half surge to pull away from Auburn as the No. 6 Wildcats ran away with a 92-72 SEC home win on Saturday afternoon.
The Wildcats (15-2, 5-0) were only up, 70-64, with a little over eight minutes but used a 22-8 run to close out the game as the team’s offense once again showed why they are among the best in the country. Freshman guard Malik Monk led Kentucky with 24 points on the night as the Wildcats shot a red-hot 57 percent (11-for-19) from three-point range.
Bam Adebayo added 15 points and eight rebounds for Kentucky while De’Aaron Fox (13 points), Mychal Mulder (12 points) and Isaiah Briscoe (10 points) also finished in double-figures.
Auburn (11-6, 1-4) was led by T.J. Dunans’ 23 points while freshman Mustapha Heron had 11 points.
If Kentucky shoots 57 percent from three-point range they are going to be nearly impossible to stop -- and it wasn’t just Monk was going bananas and hitting all the deep jumpers. Monk hit four three-pointers and kept up his normal pace but inconsistent shooters like Briscoe went 2-for-2 while Wenyen Gabriel (six points, 16 rebounds) was 2-for-3 from distance as well.
Auburn was able to stay in the game for longer because of some woeful free-throw shooting from Kentucky. The Wildcats’ were only 17-for-32 (52 percent) from the free-throw line -- well below their season average of 69 percent -- but that might only be a one-game issue and not a long-term problem.