LEXINGTON, Ky. – After an Auburn rally, No. 4 Kentucky scored the last seven points of the first half and the first 11 of the second, an 18-0 run that clinched the Wildcats' 80-53 win Saturday at Rupp Arena.
"I'm not surprised that they're this good," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. "However, I am surprised that we were not competitive today. I thought we legitimately had the chance to come in here and play with them. We were physically overwhelmed.
"We have given LSU 29 second-chance points and lost in a last-possession game. It wasn't just second-chance points, it was their defense. Kentucky is one of the best defensive teams in the country. That speaks about their character, competitive spirit, and being winners."
Chuma Okeke scored 14 points, Jared Harper added a dozen and Anfernee McLemore scored 10 to lead the Tigers. Bryce Brown added six.
"There hasn't been a game where Jared Harper has never had any assists," Pearl said. "We obviously got Bryce a ton of looks, particularly in the second half. At Auburn, he was very hot, but they did a good job by switching and keeping a couple bodies on him. He didn't get nearly as many open looks. They did a really good job defensively on him."
The hot-shooting Wildcats were 11 of 24 from 3-point range while outrebounding the Tigers 43-24. Kentucky's Keldon Johnson grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds. McLemore led Auburn with eight boards.
Kentucky's PJ Washington, whom Pearl said was a national player of the year candidate, scored a game-high 24 points, shooting 9-for-13 overall and 5-for-8 on 3-pointers. The taller Wildcats also enjoyed a 7-1 advantage in blocked shots.
"They're not just great individual defenders," Pearl said. "They compete, and they stay in front of you. As a result, they took a pretty good offensive team in Auburn and made us look really bad."
Kentucky (23-4, 12-2) led 45-31 at the half after hitting 9 of 17 3-pointers, including four from Washington and three from Tyler Herro.
Okeke led Auburn with 11 in the half. Washington (14) and Herro (13) combined for 27 in the half. Herro finished with 17 points while Ashton Hagans added 14.
Trailing 36-17, Okeke and McLemore made 3-pointers to trim the deficit to 13.
J'von McCormick's 3-point-play and Bryce Brown's 3-pointer pulled Auburn within seven at 38-31, but the Wildcats closed the half on a 7-0 run to lead by 14 at intermission before beginning the second half in similar fashion.
Auburn (18-9, 7-7) remains on the road next week when the Tigers play at Georgia Wednesday at 8 p.m. CT on ESPNU.