SEC CHAMPS! No. 1 Auburn wins at No. 17 Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Marching toward a championship, No. 1 Auburn erased decades of big blue disappointment, defeating No. 17 Kentucky 94-78 Saturday, the Tigers’ first win at Rupp Arena since 1988. 

“I’m so happy for the kids. We played like champions,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “The guys have been so locked in. The league is so good. Our guards were incredible. To win the SEC in Rupp Arena is historic, it’s significant.”

Miles Kelly made nine 3-pointers and led Auburn with 30 points, helping the Tigers clinch a share of the Southeastern Conference title while improving to 8-0 in SEC road games. Hours later, when No. 5 Tennessee defeated No. 6 Alabama, the Tigers claimed the crown outright will two games still to play. 

“These are the moments why I came to Auburn,” said Kelly, who was 9 of 14 from 3-point range. ”I’m super grateful. We give all glory to God.”

Tahaad Pettiford scored 21 points and had four assists with zero turnovers, playing a career-high 33 minutes with Denver Jones playing only eight minutes after a first-half ankle injury.

“Playing like the best freshman guard in the country,” Pearl said. “He doesn’t have a turnover against (Lamont) Butler, who’s one of the better defenders in the league.” 

“It’s amazing, being a freshman, I’ve never experienced it. That’s why I came here, to win,” Pettiford said. “We’re a really special team. When the time came, I was ready. We’re all happy but we know we have business to handle when we get back to the Plains. Enjoy our time today but get back in the gym tomorrow.”

Auburn forced 18 turnovers and held the Wildcats to four 3-pointers on 17 attempts. The Tigers made 12 3-pointers in 26 attempts and trailed for only 19 seconds. 

“Run them off the line,” Pettiford said of Auburn’s defensive gameplan. “Make them play at a halfcourt game that we want them to play.”

Kelly hit his first 3-pointer 12 seconds into the game, making four in the first half, including two banked 3s, to give Auburn a double-digit lead after five and half minutes.

“At shootaround, I fell in love with the rims,” Kelly said. “Everything I was putting up at shootaround was going in. I knew I would get some looks early and I knocked them down. My teammates did a great job of finding me.”

Chad Baker-Mazara, who scored 16 of his 22 points in the first half, accounted for Auburn’s last seven points to give the Tigers a 49-34 halftime lead.

Auburn claimed its largest lead – 22 points – on Chris Moore’s 3-pointer early in the second half and led by at least 14 points over the final 10 minutes to snap a 20-game losing streak at Rupp Arena. 

“That was a driving force, on top of that we could be regular season champs,” Kelly said of the opportunity to earn Auburn’s third win in Lexington in 54 tries. “We knew we had to stick to the scouting report and that’s what we did.”

Seeking their seventh consecutive victory, the top-ranked Tigers (27-2, 15-1) remain on the road, playing at Texas A&M Tuesday at 8 p.m. CT on ESPN and the Auburn Sports Network.

“Five different teams in the past eight years have been champions,” said Pearl, noting Auburn’s regular season titles in 2018, 2022 and 2025, and the Tigers’ SEC Tournament championships in 2019 and 2024. “This should put some wind in our sails. We’ve got to continue to find ways to get better. I promise you we won’t let success get to us. There’s more work to be done.”

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer

POSTGAME NOTES

• Auburn won its third game in 54 contests at Kentucky all-time and snapped its 20-game losing streak at Rupp Arena. 
• The 16-point win is the Tigers’ third-largest margin of victory over the Wildcats all-time (19-point wins in 1965 and 1984) and their largest on the road in series history. Auburn’s 94 points are its most against Kentucky since scoring 95 points against the Wildcats on Feb. 24, 1990.
• With the win, Auburn clinched a share of the fifth regular season SEC championship in program history, including a league-best third in the last eight seasons.
• Auburn matched school records with its 27th regular season win and 15th SEC victory. Both records were set in 2022.
• Auburn used the starting lineup of Denver Jones, Miles Kelly, Chad Baker-Mazara, Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell. Jones and Cardwell have started all 29 games this season.
• Auburn made 12-of-26 from 3-point range. It is the 14th time this season the Tigers have made double-digit 3-pointers, including the seventh time in SEC play. Auburn has shot 23-of-47 (48.9 percent) from long range over the last two games.
• Auburn scored 21 points off 18 Kentucky turnovers, while the Wildcats only scored nine points on eight Tiger turnovers. It is the third time Auburn has forced at least 18 turnovers this season (20 vs. Georgia State and at LSU), and it is the 11th time the Tigers have scored at least 20 points off an opponent’s turnovers. Auburn committed eight turnovers for the third straight game. It is the 18th time the Tigers have committed single-digit turnovers this season, including the eighth time in the last 10 games.
• Auburn held Kentucky, which came into the game averaging 9.9 3-pointers per game, to a season-low-tying four 3-pointers and a season-low one 3-pointer in the first half. The Wildcats’ previous season low was four 3-point field goals vs. Ohio State.
• It is the first time Auburn has had three 20-point scorers in a game since Feb. 8, 2020, when Samir Doughty (26), J’Von McCormick (23) and Devan Cambridge (21) did so against LSU. 
• Kelly led Auburn with 30 points in the Tigers’ win at Kentucky. It is Kelly’s third career 30-point game and his first in his first season at Auburn. Kelly made 9-of-14 3-pointers, which is the most 3-point field goals by an Auburn player in Bruce Pearl’s tenure on the Plains and is one off Lance Weems’ school record vs. Arkansas in 1996. It is also the most 3-point field goals by an Auburn player against Kentucky all-time.
• Baker-Mazara scored 22 points for the second straight game. It is Baker-Mazara’s third 20-point game of the season and seventh of his career. He was 6-of-12 from the floor, including one 3-pointer, and 9-of-10 from the foul line along with three steals, two rebounds, one assist and one block.
• Tahaad Pettiford recorded the fourth 20-point game of his freshman season, and second in SEC play, with 21 points on 6-of-10 field goals, including one 3-pointer, and 8-of-9 from the foul line to go with four assists, two turnovers and zero turnovers. 
• Dylan Cardwell becomes the winningest player in program history with his 115th victory, passing Jaylin Williams.