LEXINGTON, Ky. – Seeking its third straight series win and third win ever in Lexington, No. 15 Auburn played No. 8 Kentucky closely before falling 73-66 Saturday at Rupp Arena.
J'Von McCormick scored all 13 of his points in the second half as the Tigers trailed but stayed within single digits down the stretch.
"Second half, Coach told me to be aggressive, get back to scoring, so that's what I tried to do," McCormick said.
Austin Wiley recorded his 13th double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
McCormick's corner 3-pointer cut UK's lead to 55-53 at the 12-minute mark. Allen Flanigan's 3-point play kept the Tigers within a bucket with 9:17 to play, but Auburn would get no closer.
With the victory, Kentucky (24-5, 14-2) clinched the Southeastern Conference regular season championship.
"We're obviously disappointed," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. "Want to congratulate Kentucky on being regular season champions of our league. I thought we played pretty well in defeat.
"Didn't shoot as well in the second half as we did in the first half, and Kentucky played really well defensively. You've got to make shots and you've got to defend without fouling."
The Tigers trailed 40-37 at halftime after taking an early nine-point lead.
Danjel Purifoy hit a trio of 3-pointers in the first five minutes, serving notice that the SEC championship would not be won without a battle.
"Danjel gave us a good start by hitting those 3s, so we got a lot of momentum," McCormick said. "We got Nick Richards in foul trouble so Austin Wiley got some confidence going, so it felt pretty good."
A pair of Isaac Okoro free throws capped a 10-0 run to give Auburn an 18-9 lead.
The Tigers made 7 of 18 3-pointers in the first half while limiting Kentucky to one 3-pointer. Auburn added two more 3s in the second half, shooting 9-for-34 from 3-point range.
"We're on the road, playing at Rupp," Pearl said. "I figured we needed to spread it and shoot it a little bit, and I thought we did."
In the second half, Auburn shot 28 percent from the field, 12.5 percent from 3-point range, and 56.3 percent from the free-throw line.
"If we make some of those shots in the second half, and we make a couple of our free throws, we're right there, but we didn't," Pearl said.
A 12-0 Kentucky run gave the Wildcats the lead, but Auburn pulled within three at the half on a 3-pointer by Jaylin Williams and Anfernee McLemore's jumper in the final seconds.
The Tigers (24-5, 11-5) return to Auburn Arena for their final home game Wednesday at 6 p.m. CT vs. Texas A&M on ESPN2 and the Auburn Sports Network.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer