AUBURN, Ala. – Johni Broome recorded his tenth double-double but No. 13 Auburn never led, falling 70-59 to No. 22 Kentucky Saturday at Neville Arena, ending the Tigers' 16-game home winning streak.
"Kentucky can guard and they can turn it up when they want to. They outplayed us," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. "We held them to 70, they average 90. We played hard and made some plays defensively but their ball pressure disrupted us.
"While I'm disappointed in the outcome, when you get outplayed, when somebody plays better than you, my hat's off to them."
Broome scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Chad Baker-Mazara scored 14 points and went 9-for-9 from free-throw line. Denver Jones added 12 points.
Trailing 39-29 at the half, Auburn turned up the defensive pressure, forcing turnovers and scoring in transition during a 6-0 run that electrified the home crowd and pulled Auburn within five points with 13:10 remaining.
Baker-Mazara drove baseline and scored, then Jaylin Williams blocked a shot after running down a Wildcat in transition. K.D. Johnson made a steal and scored a layup, then Broome scored on a putback to trim Kentucky's lead to 47-42.
Auburn got a stop and had a chance to pull closer but missed a 3-pointer. The Tigers made only 1 of 10 3-point attempts in the second half and were 4-for-22 for the game, an 18.2-percent clip.
"We were getting the shots we wanted but it was one of those nights where our outside shots weren't falling," said Jones, who made 3 of 7 3-pointers to lead the Tigers. "It's frustrating when we're not seeing shots fall, but you've still got to get back and play defense."
Aden Holloway's layup cut Kentucky's lead to 49-44 with 11:53 to play but the Tigers would get no closer.
Trailing by 16 with 6:05 to play, Auburn scored eight straight points to get within eight with 2:59 remaining, but the Wildcats got a dunk to end the run and restore their double-digit lead.
Auburn grabbed more offensive rebounds than Kentucky, 14-10, but the Wildcats were more opportunistic, amassing a 20-10 edge in second-chance points.
Auburn trailed throughout the first half, starting and ending cold while Kentucky converted six Tiger turnovers into 15 points.
"I thought we could've gotten better looks," Pearl said. "Kentucky disrupted us with their length and ball pressure. If Kentucky guards like this, they can beat anybody."
Jones hit a pair of 3-pointers and Baker-Mazara led Auburn with seven first-half points.
Antonio Reeves scored a game-high 22 points for Kentucky (18-7, 8-4).
With no midweek game, Auburn (20-6, 9-4) will have extra time to rest and prepare to play at Georgia next Saturday at 5 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
"We need a bye," Pearl said. "I still like our team. We'll put it together and we'll be better for the next one. I'm so proud of them for the position they're in. We'll take a couple days off and see if we can regroup."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
KENTUCKY POSTGAME NOTES
» Auburn is now 5-2 in its last seven contests against Kentucky at Neville Arena. The Tigers and Wildcats have split the last eight games overall in the all-time series. UK holds a 98-23 advantage in the series including 32-18 in games played in Auburn. The two teams have split 10 games at Neville Arena.
» The loss snapped Auburn's 16-game home-court win streak, which was the sixth-longest in program history.
» For the 53rd-straight game, Auburn saw a sellout crowd of 9,121 at Neville Arena.
» Auburn outscored Kentucky, 28-15, in bench points led by Chad Baker-Mazara with 14 points. The Tigers' bench has outscored the opponents' bench in all but one game this season including the last 19 games. Auburn is outscoring opponents by an average of 18.8 bench points per game in SEC play.
» Auburn is the third team this season to hold Kentucky, who came into Saturday's game third in the country averaging 88.9 points per game, to no more than 70 points – joining South Carolina and Arkansas.
» Johni Broome recorded his 56th career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. It was Broome's 10th double-double of the season, which matched his total from last season to give him 20 double-doubles in his Auburn career. He has scored in double figures in 17 straight games. Broome blocked three shots on Saturday, giving him 140 blocks in his Auburn career, which is 10th most in program history and one block behind Chris Moore and Dylan Cardwell for eighth on the school's all-time career blocked shot list. Broome went 4-of-4 from the free-throw line, which gives him 300 made free throws in his collegiate career.
» Mazara scored in double figures for the eighth time in SEC play including five of the last six games. He finished the day with 14 points including a career-best 9-of-9 from the free-throw line. Baker-Mazara added six rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal versus the Wildcats. His six rebounds put him over the 200-rebound plateau for his career as he finished the day with 203 career boards.
» Denver Jones scored 12 points, making 3-of-7 shots from long range, and added four rebounds and two assists against Kentucky. It was his ninth game in double figures on the season including his fourth in the last six games. It was also the fourth time he has made at least three 3-pointers in a game this season.
» Dylan Cardwell made his only two field-goal attempts against Kentucky, which moved his career total to 200 made field goals.
» K.D. Johnson recorded two steals on Saturday, which marked his ninth multi-steal game of the season including seven in the last 12 games. Johnson has made a team-high 36 steals on the season.
