AUBURN, Ala. – AUTLIVE. College Gameday. Kentucky. It was only fitting that No. 17 Auburn capped a historic Saturday on the Plains with a 75-66 win over the 13th-ranked Wildcats in front of a packed house at Auburn Arena.
"It was a great day at Auburn Arena," Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said.
The Tigers took a 62-60 lead when Danjel Purifoy knocked down a corner 3 with 3:59 left in the second half, and from that point on, it was all Auburn. Isaac Okoro hit a clutch step-back 3. Austin Wiley grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back in. And Samir Doughty iced the game by knocking down four straight free throws in the final minute. After that, the celebration was on.
For Auburn, it was the program's second-straight win over Kentucky and the fourth win in the last seven games against the Wildcats dating back to 2016.
"This is why we came here," Wiley said. "To make history. Fans should get used to this because we work hard. It shouldn't be a surprising win every time we beat good teams like Kentucky. We have good players, too, so they should get used to it."
"Each and every game is important to us," added Doughty. "We weren't just focused on Kentucky. We're focused on each and every opponent that we face. We know the importance of each and every game."
Doughty led the Tigers with 23 points. The senior guard was 14 of 15 from the free-throw line and scored 16 of his 23 points in the first half. For Doughty, the team's leading scorer coming in, it was his 16th game in double figures and sixth game with 20 or more points this season.
It was also clear that the stage wasn't too big for Okoro. The lone freshman in Auburn's starting lineup scored 11 of his 14 points in the final seven minutes of regulation. He knocked down two 3s during that stretch and also made five free throws to help the Tigers pull away.
"Down the stretch we saw that Isaac had a mismatch, so we just wanted to keep giving him the ball," Doughty said. "We knew at the end of the day he was going to make the right play whether that's finishing or getting his teammates the ball. We saw the mismatch. You won't be a great ball player if you don't take advantage of those mismatches, no matter who's hot, so that's what we did."
Doughty and Okoro made a combined 20 free throws. As a team, Auburn converted 33 of its 44 free-throw attempts, setting a new record for free throws made under Pearl.
Auburn also dominated on the glass thanks in large part to Wiley, who recorded his eighth double-double this season with 12 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. The final rebounding tally was 42-28 in favor of the Tigers who turned 17 offensive boards into 17 second-chance points. Wiley alone pulled down seven offensive rebounds.
"I thought Austin Wiley had a huge impact on the game with his physical presence," Pearl said. "Nick Richards has been dominating lately, and Austin was just physically able to hang in there and negate some of it. And then I thought Anfernee McLemore, who gives away a lot of size, hung in there as well.
"But for Austin to have seven offensive rebounds and for us to have 17 offensive rebounds speaks to the effort and the energy I thought our guys played with."
Richards, who came in averaging 14.4 points per game, scored only seven points Saturday night. The Tigers also stifled UK point guard Ashton Hagans, who finished with five points and three assists and turned the ball over six times.
On the Auburn side, Purifoy made it four players in double figures as he finished with 11 points and made 3 of his 6 shots from beyond the arc. The senior has now made three or more 3s in eight games this season, and the Tigers are 8-0 in those games.
With the win, Auburn (19-2, 6-2) moves into a tie for second in the SEC with Kentucky.
The program also kept their perfect record in AUTLIVE games intact. The initiative started five years ago with Pearl to help raise the awareness of cancer prevention and detection, and since that first game in 2016, the Tigers are now 5-0 in AUTLIVE games.
Next up for Auburn is a road trip to Arkansas on Tuesday. The game is scheduled to tip off at 6 p.m. CT and will be televised on SEC Network.