AU HOOPS: Tigers fall short in 10th loss in a row to Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Numbers got the best of Auburn on Wednesday night.

Numbers like Kentucky’s 32 free-throw attempts compared to Auburn’s six helped contribute to a 73-64 loss in front of 22,760 fans at Rupp Arena.

Numbers like Kentucky’s Jodie Meeks 31 points or Patrick Patterson’s 21 points and 18 rebounds — just four less than the entire Auburn team.

But what about Auburn’s 67 shots compared to just 40 from Kentucky? The nearly six minutes Auburn went without a point late in the second half helped mitigate whatever advantage was gathered there.

They don’t all add up, but the vast majority helped contribute in maintaining the ugly digits that represent Auburn and Kentucky’s lopsided relationship.

After the teams’ 100th matchup, Kentucky leads the all-time series 83-17. The Wildcats have won the last 10 times.

“Defensively, Kentucky is very, very good. No doubt about that,” coach Jeff Lebo said. “Their intensity in the second half had us out of sync.”

Two Auburn lapses ultimately undid an otherwise strong showing from the underdog Tigers.

Auburn held a slim lead throughout the latter portion of the first half, but went into halftime trailing by 1 after Ramon Harris’ layup at the buzzer.

The momentum lasted and lingered into the first minute of the second half.

Auburn (11-7, 1-3 SEC) turned the ball over on its first three possessions. Meeks turned the first two into 6 points with back-to-back 3-pointers and the third was capitalized with a Perry Stevenson dunk.

“We felt pretty confident going into halftime,” forward Rasheem Barrett said. “But we came out flat.”

Auburn upped its intensity on defense and its accuracy on offense post-run No. 1, and even took a 51-48 lead with 9:07 to play after Frankie Sullivan’s 3-pointer.

Cue run No. 2.

Kentucky (15-4, 4-0) tightened up on defense and held Auburn scoreless for 5:42. On the other side, Kentucky converted on open looks created by its slick transition offense.

It all added up to a 12-0 run and Auburn’s 24th loss in its last 25 tries against the Wildcats.

“It was like demons just took over or something,” Barrett said. “They locked in and came as a team and played great defense, both inside and outside.”

The Tigers were limited on the inside, as Korvotney Barber was a non-factor with 4 points and five rebounds. That was largely Patterson’s doing, as the 6-foot-9, chiseled forward limited the few opportunities Barber had around the basket.

“They’re big and physical and long in there,” Lebo said.

He wasn’t just talking about Patterson.

Stevenson, a lanky swingman, locked up Barrett throughout the second half, preventing him to tack on much of anything to his 12 first-half points. Barrett finished with 17 points, while DeWayne Reed led the Tigers with 22.

Meeks, the third-best scorer in the country, did a good amount of damage from the foul line, knocking down 12 of his 13 attempts. Open looks were few and far between for him, though, as the Tigers swarmed on him nearly every time he touched the ball.

“For what he’s been doing throughout the season,” Barrett said, “I thought we did a pretty good job.”

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