< PreviousWEEKNIGHTS 7:30 p.m. SATURDAY 9:00 a.m.KENTUCKY BASKETBALL 14 @KentuckyMBB From Press Row Last Time Out: Auburn Recap Kentucky has heard it all season long. The Cats have heard how their defense and toughness are not up to the level of what is expected. On Saturday night, UK faced a tough task. The Cats faced a red-hot Auburn team that was 13-0 at home, ranked 13th in the country and that had won 43 of its last 45 games at home. No. 22 Kentucky (18-7, 8-4 Southeast- ern Conference) showed solid defensive play and toughness in a hostile environ- ment on Saturday night, as the Cats beat Auburn 70-59. UK never trailed and held Auburn to just 30.9 percent shooting from the floor and made the most of Auburn’s 12 turnovers, converting those into 23 points. Antonio Reeves led the Cats with 22 points and Adou Thiero added 14 points and eight rebounds. Rob Dillingham had 11 points, all in the first half, while Ugon- na Onyenso had seven points and 11 re- bounds Kentucky scored first on a Justin Ed- wards dunk before Auburn tied the game at 2-2. The Cats would score the next nine points, including five from Dillingham, to lead 11-2. Auburn (20-6, 9-4) would get a three from Chad Baker-Mazara to get within six, 11-5 before Reeves hit a pair of free throws to give UK a 13-5 advantage. After Auburn scored four straight, Kentucky got D.J. Wagner layup and a three from Reeves to extend the lead to 18-9 and force an Au- burn timeout. UK would extend the lead to 19-9 on an Onyenso free throw, but Auburn scored the next four points to make it 19-13. How- ever, Kentucky responded with an 8-2 run, the last six of which came from Theiro, to lead 27-15 with 5:09 left in the half. Auburn fought back, scoring the next five points before a Reed Sheppard bank shot gave the Cats a 29-20 lead. Auburn would get back within five, 30-25, before UK got another Reeves three and four straight points from Dillingham to extend the lead to 37-25 with 1:11 remaining in the half. UK would hold a 39-29 lead at the break. Kentucky scored the first four points of the second half to lead 43-29. Auburn an- swered with a 7-2 run to get back within nine, 45-36. After a Theiro dunk, Auburn responded with an 8-2 run to make it 49- 44 with 11:53 to play. Once again, UK responded. Reeves drove to the basket for a layup and Thiero hit a pair of free throws to make it 53-44. After a K.D. Johnson basket for Auburn, Reeves made another layup, then a three to extend the lead to 58-46 with 8:38 to play. A pair of Wagner free throws made it 60-46 . Auburn would not go away. The Tigers mounted a 10-4 run to make it 64-56 with 2:59 to play. Auburn would eventually get within seven, 66-59, but UK scored the final four points to seal the victory. Other Auburn Game Tidbits • Antonio Reeves notched 22 points, in- cluding 13 in the second half to help the Wildcats hold off the roaming Tigers. He has 13 games with at least 20 points and has scored in double figures in every game but one this season. • With Tre Mitchell sidelined, Adou Thi- ero played a career-high 33 minutes. He to- taled 14 points, his third double-figure effort of the season, including 6 of 6 at the foul line. • Although foul trouble limited him to 18 minutes, Robert Dillingham had 11 points, his 20th double-figure game of the season. He chipped in three assists as well. • Playing a career-high 36 minutes, Ugonna Onyenso led the Wildcats with 11 boards, his third double-figure rebounding game of the season. He added seven points. He also made all three of his field goal attempts, his second game in a row perfect from the field, as he made 3 of 3 in the win over Ole Miss. • For the third time in the last four games, SEC steals leader Reed Sheppard had five thefts. He has had at least two thefts in 20 of 25 games. He added four points and three assists. Reed This: Sheppard Stats' Snapshot Reed Sheppard is the only player in the country that has amassed at least 50 steals, dished out at least 100 assists and made at least 50 3-pointers through Feb. 18. Per KenPom.com, his 3-point percentage of 51.4% ranks second in the country, his true-shooting percentage (68.4%), is eighth and his effective field-goal percentage ranks 13th (66.3%). Meanwhile, Sheppard has been a nema- sis defensively racking up 65 steals on the season. Since steals became an official stat in 1979, the 65 steals are the third-most by a UK freshman in program history. Only John Wall (66) and Rajon Rondo (87) have more. Rondo's 87 steals are the single-season record set in 2004-05. Sheppard ranks 12th for steals among any player in UK single-season allure. He needs just five more to rank fifth. The Lon- don, Kentucky, native's 2.60 per game aver- age ranks seventh in the country and leads the Southeastern Conference. The 6-foot-3 guard also leads the team with 103 assists on the year. His 4.1 per game average fanks fifth in the league. The 103 assists ranks as the 15th-most in sin- gle-season history by a UK freshman and he is the 76th player in program history to have 100 or more assists in a season. With a 51.4% 3-point clip, Sheppard would rank third in single-season histo- ry in that category if the season ended to- day. Cameron Mills made 42 of 79 (53.16) in 1996-97 and Travis Ford hit 101 of 191 (52.88) in 1992-93.Thank You to Our CORNERSTONE PARTNERSNEKENTUCKY BASKETBALL 18 @KentuckyMBB Around the SEC Around the Country 2023-24 SEC Standings and Statistics Team SEC Overall Home Road Alabama 10-2 18-7 12-1 4-3 Tennessee 9-3 19-6 12-1 5-3 South Carolina 9-4 21-5 13-2 5-3 Auburn 9-4 20-6 13-1 3-4 Florida 8-4 18-7 11-1 3-4 Kentucky 8-4 18-7 11-4 5-2 Ole Miss 6-6 19-6 14-1 3-5 Mississippi State 6-6 17-8 10-2 1-6 Texas A&M 6-6 15-10 9-3 4-5 LSU 5-7 13-12 9-4 2-6 Georgia 4-8 14-11 11-4 3-4 Arkansas 3-9 12-13 9-5 1-5 Vanderbilt 2-10 7-18 7-8 0-7 Missouri 0-12 8-17 6-8 2-7 Scoring Player-Team ...................................................................PPG Mark Sears, ALA ............................................................20.6 Dalton Knecht, UT ........................................................20.1 Antonio Reeves, UK ......................................................19.5 Wade Taylor IV, TAMU ...................................................19.4 Matthew Murrell, MISS ..................................................17.1 Rebounding Player-Team ...................................................................RPG Andersson Garcia, TAMU ................................................9.2 Johni Broome, AUB .........................................................8.5 Tyrese Samuel, UF ...........................................................7.9 Tre Mitchell, UK ..............................................................7.5 Jonas Aidoo, UT ..............................................................7.5 Assists Player-Team ...................................................................APG Zakai Zeigler, UT .............................................................5.6 Zyon Pullin, UF ...............................................................4.9 Sean East II, MIZZOU ......................................................4.2 Ta'Lon Cooper, SC ...........................................................4.2 Aaron Estrada, ALA ..........................................................4.1 Steals Player-Team ...................................................................SPG Reed Sheppard, UK .........................................................2.6 Cameron Matthews, MISS ST ...........................................2.1 Wade Taylor IV, TAMU .....................................................2.1 Zakai Zeigler, UT .............................................................2.0 Jordan Wright, LSU ..........................................................1.8 Blocks Player-Team ...................................................................BPG Jamarion Sharp, MISS ......................................................2.5 Johni Broome, AUB .........................................................2.4 Jonas Aidoo, UT ..............................................................1.8 Dylan Cardwell, AUB ......................................................1.5 Grant Nelson, ALA ..........................................................1.5 2023-24 Associated Press Rankings As of February 12, 2024 (week 16) Team Record Points 1 UConn (62) 24-2 1550 2 Houston 22-3 1473 3 Purdue 23-3 1414 4 Arizona 20-5 1373 5 Tennessee 19-6 1230 6 Iowa State 20-5 1160 7 Marquette 19-6 1144 8 Duke 20-5 1116 9 Kansas 20-6 1065 10 North Carolina 20-6 1044 11 Baylor 19-6 959 12 Illinois 19-6 853 13 Alabama 18-7 803 14 Auburn 20-6 690 15 Creighton 19-7 612 16 Dayton 21-4 584 17 Kentucky 18-7 540 18 Saint Mary's 21-6 486 19 San Diego State 20-6 374 20 South Carolina 21-5 346 21 Washington State 20-6 215 22 Colorado State 20-6 171 23 Texas Tech 18-7 135 24 Florida 18-7 124 25 BYU 18-7 123 (through February 19 games)We’re your Shield. 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KENTUCKY WILDCATS! ® ANDERSON, IN Jordan Harper BARDSTOWN Tyler Bruington BEAVER DAM Robbie Parham BOWLING GREEN Nancy Hickey Drew Hayes BUTLER Jason Laytart CAMPBELLSVILLE Taylor Burress CARLISLE Bill Clark CYNTHIANA Lee Adkins DANVILLE Troy Wheeler ELIZABETHTOWN Jamie Martin Alice Slaubaugh EMINENCE Fred Downey EVANSVILLE, IN Rick Koberstein FAIRDALE Jamie Norsworthy FLEMINGSBURG Cole Clark FLORENCE Rocky Bryan Brandi Monday FRANKLIN Lauren Roberts FRANKFORT BJ Hurst Audrey Marshall GEORGETOWN Steve Black Spencer Kilpatrick HARDINSBURG Sandra Bruington HARRODSBURG Jamie Dunn HENDERSON Megan Brown HODGENVILLE Teddy Sandford HOPKINSVILLE Alexander Capps Scott Leuckel LAGRANGE Paula Kaeser LANCASTER Cindy Lanham LAWRENCEBURG Ashley Bailey LEITCHFIELD Donna Vanmeter LEXINGTON Tony Arnold Ed Carr Linda Fugate Dawan Hart Heather Lewis Josh Miniard Willie Morrison Gene Young LIBERTY Kevin Atwood LIVERMORE Katie Gunterman LONDON Jeffery Anderson LOUISVILLE Amy Brown Corinne Ramsier Larissa Spears MADISONVILLE Brandi Hughes MAYFIELD Steve Jones MOREHEAD Caleb Staggs MOUNT STERLING Elizabeth Shelley MURRAY Doug Henry NICHOLASVILLE Marc Miller Russ Owens OWENSBORO Karen Keller PADUCAH Toby Boone RICHMOND Ashley Kovaleski Evan Worrell SHELBYVILLE Scott Martin SLAUGHTERS Sam Westfall SOMERSET Jason Weatherford SPRINGFIELD Sue Blair STANFORD Sean Slusher UNION Joey Bailey VERSAILLES Janice Frasier WINCHESTER Kay Brandenburg Olin WoolumKENTUCKY BASKETBALL 20 @KentuckyMBB Arkansas Fayetteville, Ark. W, 63-57 Saturday January Tennessee Lexington, Ky. L, 92-103 Saturday February Gonzaga Lexington, Ky. L, 85-89 Saturday February Ole Miss Lexington, Ky. W, 75-63 Tuesday February Auburn Auburn, Ala. W, 70-59 Saturday February Vanderbilt Lexington, Ky. 9 p.m. Wednesday March Tennessee Knoxville, Tenn. 4 p.m. Saturday March SEC Tournament Nashville, Tenn. TBA Wed.-Sun. March 13-17 NCAA Tournament Final Four® Phoenix | TBA March- April TBA LSU Baton Rouge, La. 9 p.m. February Alabama Lexington, Ky. 4 p.m. Saturday February Mississippi State Starkville, Miss. 7 p.m. Tuesday February Arkansas Lexington, Ky. 1:30 p.m. Saturday March Florida Lexington, Ky. L, 91-94 (OT) January Mississippi State Lexington, Ky. W, 90-77 January Georgia Lexington, Ky. W, 105-96 Saturday January South Carolina Columbia, S.C. L, 62-79 Tuesday January Kansas Chicago L, 84-89 Tuesday November New Mexico State Lexington, Ky. W, 86-46 Monday November Texas A&M- Lexington, Ky. W, 81-61 Friday November Miami Lexington, Ky. W, 95-73 Tuesday November UNC-Wilmington Lexington, Ky. L, 73-80 Saturday December Penn Philadelphia W, 81-66 Saturday December Stonehill Lexington, Ky. W, 101-67 Friday November Saint Joseph's Lexington, Ky. W, 96-88 (OT) Monday November Marshall Lexington, Ky. W, 118-82 Friday November Louisville Louisville, Ky. W, 95-76 Thursday December Illinois State Lexington, Ky. W, 96-70 Friday December Missouri Lexington, Ky. W, 90-77 Tuesday January Florida Gainesville, Fla. W, 87-85 Saturday January Texas A&M L, 92-97 OT Saturday January North Carolina Atlanta Saturday December Home Neutral Away 2023-24 Basketball Schedule Vanderbilt Nashville, Tenn. W, 109-77 Tuesday February Wildcat Challenge presented by Kentucky Tourism Wildcat Challenge presented by Kentucky Tourism Wildcat Challenge presented by Kentucky Tourism ACC/SEC Challenge CBS Sports Classic State Farm Champions ClassicSUBSCRIBE TO PODCASTS TODAY! 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