AUBURN, Ala. — The most significant win of Kentucky‘s season so far came in stunning fashion Saturday night inside this orange-and-blue barn on the Farm they call “The Jungle.”
The 22nd-ranked Wildcats strolled into Neville Arena and controlled the conversation for 40 minutes, a 70-59 triumph over a 13th-ranked Tigers team that was days removed from 40-piecing No. 11 South Carolina 101-61 under the same roof. Auburn had never beaten a top-15 team by that many points. This joint was a jungle on that night; on Saturday, it was a tangle for the Tigers.
Neville Arena has built up a reputation in the past five years as one of the harshest environments in college basketball, but UK made that a falsehood immediately, taking an early lead and never trailing thereafter. Kentucky delivered the first home loss of the season for Bruce Pearl’s team, which was held to 30.9% shooting — one of its worst offensive outputs ever on his watch.
That 30.9% doubled as the best defensive field goal percentage for Kentucky this season.
Auburn’s 16-game home winning streak is also dust.
Every upset has one side whose result carries more significance. Tonight the side slants to Kentucky, now an 18-7 squad, and one capable of more variance than seemingly any other Final Four contender. And yes, this is the EXACT type of result to verify Kentucky as a Final Four contender. As I wrote recently, the Wildcats still have long-term work to do on their defensive reputation to become a national title candidate, but nevertheless something may have fertilized on the Farm. In back-to-back games these Wildcats have proven they can beat NCAA Tournament teams the rugged way. On Tuesday night, it was a 75-63 win over Ole Miss. Saturday was more impressive because the opponent’s better and it came on the road. Wouldn’t you know it: Kentucky’s held its past two foes to 61.0 points per game.
Prior to those two results, Kentucky was giving up more than 80 per night.
The Tigers — ranked 11th at KenPom in offensive efficiency heading into the game — were held to .88 points per possession, their second-lowest offensive efficiency rate of the season. On Saturday, Auburn was victim to eight Kentucky steals.
That’s how UK got out with a win, despite a season-low four 3-pointers.
“Kentucky can guard and they can turn it up when they want to,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said.
When John Calipari walked…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CBSSports.com Headlines…