LEXINGTON, Ky. – JT Thor and Allen Flanigan combined for 47 points, but a late comeback bid from Auburn came up short Saturday as the Tigers lost, 82-80, on the road at Kentucky.
Down 12 with six minutes remaining, Auburn scored six unanswered points in less than 30 seconds to cut the lead in half. Then Thor went to work. He grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back in for two. He buried a 3. He made another tough basket inside off the glass. The freshman scored 12 of the team's final 14 points down the stretch.
The only points not accounted for by Thor was a fastbreak layup from Flanigan that tied the game at 77-77 with less than a minute to go. Kentucky answered with a 3 on the other end, though, giving the Wildcats the lead for good.
"If you look at how we played at the end of the game, down, we played like our hair was on fire," Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said. "That's how our teams play best. This young team has not learned that lesson yet, and the season is almost over. So I'm very disappointed.
"You can't give up 52 points in a half and expect to win a basketball game, let alone making history."
Thor finished with a career-high 24 points, surpassing his previous mark of 15. The Auburn big man had failed to reach double figures in each of the last three games but busted out of the slump, shooting 8 of 11 from the floor and making 5 of 6 shots from beyond the arc. He also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds, matching his career high on the glass, and blocked two shots.
"I was just trying to let the game come to me," Thor said. "Trying to not put pressure on myself to make plays. If you're open shoot it. Don't care about the makes or misses."
"That's why he's one of my best NBA prospects because he has the ability to elevate his game," added Pearl. "You have 24 and 9 as a freshman in Rupp, that's pretty good. He's got a great future, and he's a pretty good player right now. I'm really proud of JT. He's a great teammate, too. He's so unselfish."
Thor became the sixth Auburn player and third freshman with 20 points in a game this season.
Flanigan posted his fourth 20-point effort of the year with 23 points in Saturday's loss. It was one shy of his career high. The sophomore scored 15 in the second half, including seven straight points midway through the second half to keep the Tigers within striking distance.
"Al was so productive offensively," Pearl said. "He was able to score through contact. Every 3 ball he took, he looked good. He got five defensive rebounds. He did a lot of great things. He's a workhorse for us."
Flanigan, who was 8 of 13 from the floor against Kentucky, has now scored in double figures in 19 of Auburn's 21 games and is averaging 14.3 points per game this season.
Sharife Cooper also scored in double figures with 14 points while adding a team-high eight assists and six rebounds. It's the fifth time in 11 games where Cooper has had at least 10 points, five assists and five rebounds in a game, which is tops in the SEC.
Cooper, Thor and Jamal Johnson all helped the Tigers jump out to an early lead. Auburn led by as many as nine in the first half and took a 36-30 advantage into the locker room at the break.
After back-to-back road games, the Tigers (11-11, 5-8) will return home Tuesday night to face Mississippi State inside Auburn Arena. The game will tip off at 8 p.m. CT.
