AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn men's basketball victories vs. Kentucky used to be a once-in-a-blue moon event. Under Bruce Pearl, they've become an annual occurrence.
For the fourth consecutive season, the Tigers took down the Wildcats, beating Kentucky 66-59 Saturday at Auburn Arena to give Auburn a 5-4 series lead in the past nine meetings.
"To beat Kentucky is historic," said Pearl, who is 4-1 vs. Kentucky at Auburn Arena. "You're judged by how you do against the best teams on your schedule and certainly Kentucky's going to always be as good as anybody on our schedule. It matters, and we want to make history. Our program has been one of the top five programs in the SEC over the last four years."
Allen Flanigan led Auburn with a career-high 21 points and nine rebounds. Devan Cambridge scored 13 points and Sharife Cooper added 11 points and a game-high eight assists to give the Tigers back-to-back SEC wins.
"I'm really confident in my game knowing that I've put in the work this summer," said Flanigan, who was 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. "Being active on defense, being the leader on the defensive end and letting the offense flow and come to me."
JT Thor's steal and Euro-step layup capped a 6-0 run, giving Auburn its biggest lead, 56-46 with 5:36 to play.
"He's not afraid to make plays," Pearl said of Thor, who scored six points, grabbed six rebounds and made a pair of crunch time steals. "He stepped up and made two big free throws late. Very proud of him."
Kentucky (4-8, 3-2) twice pulled within two points down the stretch, but Cooper hit Jaylin Williams for a layup, then the freshman point guard drove for bucket that put Auburn ahead 62-58 with 39 seconds to play.
Thor and Flanigan each made a pair of free throws to secure the victory.
"Allen Flanigan was a man out there in every which way, rebounding, defensively, attacking the rim, using his physicality, willingness to take big shots," Pearl said.
Auburn used a 7-0 run to take a 48-43 lead in the middle of the second half. After Flanigan's tough shot in the paint tied the score at 43-43, Flanigan found Cambridge for a 3-pointer that put up the Tigers ahead 46-43.
"Everybody has the green light," said Cambridge, who made 3 of 5 3-point attempts to lead the Tigers. "I'm going to take those shots if they're open."
It took Auburn fewer than 10 minutes in the second half to exceed its first-half output of 21 points.
Cooper's fifth assist, to Cambridge in transition, put Auburn on top 48-43.
"I trust Sharife at the point," Cambridge said. "He's always going to find me."
Despite shooting only 24 percent in the first half, including 2-for-17 on 3-point attempts, Auburn trailed by only four points at intermission.
Cooper made a pair of free throws with two-tenths of a second left to trim Kentucky's halftime lead to 25-21.
Auburn outrebounded Kentucky 26-19 in the half, collecting many long caroms of missed 3s to take a 12-5 edge in offensive boards. For the game, the Tigers enjoyed a 41-38 rebounding advantage.
Auburn (8-6, 2-4) hits the road next week for an 8 p.m. CT Wednesday tip at Arkansas on SEC Network and an 11 a.m. CT Saturday game at South Carolina.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer