< PreviousMike Pratt previews the Auburn game 8 @KentuckyMBB 10 @KentuckyMBB 2020 UK Sports Partnership Football Program Ad (8.5x11) 265-20801.indd 12020 UK Sports Partnership Football Program Ad (8.5x11) 265-20801.indd 111/13/20 11:01 AM11/13/20 11:01 AMWEEKNIGHTS 7:30 p.m. SATURDAY 9:00 a.m.110920 BBN Tonight RUPP Ad.indd 1110920 BBN Tonight RUPP Ad.indd 111/9/20 4:39 PM11/9/20 4:39 PMAround the SEC Around the Country 2020-21 SEC Standings Team SEC Overall Home Road Alabama 11-1 16-5 9-1 5-2 Tennessee 7-4 14-4 11-2 3-2 Arkansas 7-4 15-5 12-1 3-4 LSU 7-4 12-6 8-2 3-4 Missouri 6-4 13-4 8-1 4-3 Florida 6-4 10-5 5-2 3-3 Ole Miss 6-6 11-8 8-3 3-5 Georgia 5-7 12-7 10-3 2-4 Mississippi State 5-7 11-10 8-4 3-3 Auburn 5-7 11-10 6-4 3-5 Kentucky 4-7 5-13 3-5 2-6 South Carolina 3-6 5-8 3-3 1-4 Texas A&M 2-6 8-7 6-3 2-3 Vanderbilt 1-8 5-10 5-5 0-5 Scoring Player-Team ...................................................................PPG Cameron Thomas, LSU ..................................................22.4 Scotty Pippen Jr., VANDY ...............................................20.4 AJ Lawson, USC ............................................................17.5 D.J. Stewart Jr., MISS ST .................................................17.0 Iverson Molinar, MISS ST ...............................................16.8 Rebounding Player-Team ...................................................................RPG Tolu Smith, MISS ST.........................................................8.5 Dylan Disu, VANDY ........................................................8.3 Darius Days, LSU ............................................................8.1 Jeremiah Tilmon, MIZZOU ..............................................7.8 Emanuel Miller, TAMU ....................................................7.7 Assists Player-Team ...................................................................APG Sahvir Wheeler, UGA ......................................................7.3 Scotty Pippen Jr., VANDY .................................................5.1 Jalen Tate, ARK ................................................................4.4 Ja'Vonte Smart, LSU .........................................................4.2 Jermaine Couisnard, USC ................................................3.8 Steals Player-Team ................................................................... SPG Justin Kier, UGA ..............................................................2.1 Dru Smith, MIZZOU .......................................................1.8 Tyree Appleby, UF ...........................................................1.8 Herbert Jones, ALA ..........................................................1.7 Luis Rodriguez, MISS .......................................................1.7 Blocks Player-Team ...................................................................BPG Isaiah Jackson, UK ..........................................................2.8 Colin Castleton, UF .........................................................2.6 Connor Vanover, ARK ......................................................2.0 Abdul Ado, MISS ST ........................................................1.8 Yves Pons, UT .................................................................1.6 2020-21 Associated Press Rankings As of Feb. 7, 2021 (week 12) Team Record Points 1 Gonzaga (55) 18-0 1,567 2 Baylor (8) 17-0 1,520 3 Michigan 13-1 1,438 4 Ohio State 15-4 1,365 5 Villanova 12-2 1,281 6 Illinois 13-5 1,239 7 Texas Tech 14-5 1,102 8 Houston 16-2 1,060 9 Virginia 13-3 969 10 Missouri 13-3 966 11 Alabama 15-5 911 12 Oklahoma 12-5 863 13 Texas 11-5 841 14 West Virginia 13-5 824 15 Iowa 13-6 757 16 Tennessee 13-4 690 17 Florida State 10-3 514 18 Virginia Tech 14-4 486 19 Creighton 14-5 465 20 Southern California 15-3 411 21 Wisconsin 14-6 358 22 Loyola Chicago 17-3 200 23 Oklahoma State 12-5 181 24 Purdue 13-7 85 25 Rutgers 11-6 65 14 @KentuckyMBBFrom Press Row 16 @KentuckyMBB Rematch with Auburn After splitting home contests a season ago and meeting three times in 2018-19, includ- ing an overtime thriller for a spot in the 2019 Final Four, the Kentucky-Auburn matchup is evolving into must-see TV. After the Wildcats won 18 straight from 2001 to 2015, the Tigers have the edge at 5-4 over the last nine meetings. All five of Au- burn's win the series have come away from Rupp Arena. Although Kentucky owns an all-time re- cord of 95-22 against the Tigers, including a 49-2 edge in Lexington, the series has been a battle the last four seasons. Five of those matchups have been decided by seven points or less, including this season's 66-59 win by Auburn on Jan 16. Beginning with a 75-70 Auburn win in January of 2016, the matchup between the two teams have provided some classics. That game saw the Tigers rally from a five-point halftime deficit for the win despite UK's Tyler Ulis nearly registering a triple-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. The 2017 matchup endured UK guard De'Aaron Fox fouling out with 7:23 to play and nearly 50 fouls called, but Kentucky rallied to win by 20 points. In 2018, Auburn assembled a 13-2 run to turn a four-point deficit into a 68- 61 lead with 3:57 remaining as the No. 10 Tigers held off a rally by the young Wildcats. In 2018-19, Kentucky won both regu- lar-season meetings. The first came at Auburn with the No. 12 Wildcats surviving the No. 14 Tigers as Tyler Herro scored 10 points over the final 5:23 to stave off a 17-point rally by the home team. In Lexington, UK earned a dominating 80-53 win, but it would spark quite the run by the Tigers. Auburn went on to win 11 straight games, including a South- eastern Conference Tournament crown and wins over Kansas and North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament to meet the Cats in the Elite Eight. Auburn's winning streak contin- ued as it rallied from a 10-point first-half hole and forced overtime on a Bryce Brown layup with 38 seconds to go. The Tigers pulled away in the extra minutes for a six-point win to advance to the program's first Final Four, despite 28 points and 13 rebounds from Ken- tucky's PJ Washington. Last season, both home squads earned wins, but UK's victory proved significant. A 73-66 win, sparked by 18 points by Im- manuel Quickley, powered Kentucky to its sixth SEC regular-season crown under John Calipari. Auburn enters Saturday's matchup with an 11-10 overall record. The Tigers snapped a three-game losing streak with a 73-67 win at Vanderbilt on Tuesday. Freshman sensation Sharife Cooper leads the way with a 20.2 scoring average and 8.7 assists per game. Mintz and Sarr Named Senior CLASS Award Candidates Davion Mintz and Olivier Sarr were both named candidates for the 2021 Senior CLASS Award. Eligible student-athletes must have notable achievements in four areas of excel- lence: community, classroom, character and competition. Kentucky is one of two schools to have a pair of representatives with the other being Southeastern Conference foe Tennessee. Thirty candidates have been selected for the award which focuses on the total stu- dent-athletes and encourages them to use their platform to make positive impacts as leaders in their communities. The field will be narrowed down to 10 fi- nalists in late February and those names will be placed on the official ballot for voting with the media, coaches and fans. The winner will be announced at the 2021 NCAA Final Four. Mintz has appeared in 115 career games and made 93 starts. A contributor in all phases of the game during his career spent between Creighton and Kentucky, Mintz leads UK with 30 3-pointers this season, is averaging 9.9 points per game and has led UK in scor- ing a team-high-tying seven times. Mintz has scored in double figures in 35 career games and led his team in steals in more than 20. As a junior, he ranked second on the team with 40 steals, third with 60 free throws and fourth with 43 3-pointers. He poured in a ca- reer-high 21 point and made five 3-pointers against No. 21 Marquette. As a sophomore, he led the Big East and ranked 15th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio. The Charlotte, North Carolina, native earned an undergraduate degree in market- ing from Creighton University in May with a grade-point average of 3.02. He was also a 2017-18 Big East All-Academic Team selec- tion. At Kentucky, he is pursuing a master’s de- gree in kinesiology with an emphasis in sport leadership. As a high school student, he was recruited by a number of Ivy League schools where he earned honor-roll accolades and was a member of the Top 100 Young Black High School Students of Charlotte and a North Carolina Boys State Delegate. At Kentucky, Mintz and Sarr have played a leadership role for a UK team that featured 10 new players to the program, including seven freshmen, and are two of the team’s captains. During the summer, the duo was two of the leaders who helped initiate a players-driven message regarding social injustices in the country. The initiative resulted in the players producing a public message brining attention to the cause, as well as internal conversations with teammates and the coaching staff about their own experiences. Sarr has appeared in more than 100 career games with nearly 50 starts. As a Wildcat, Sarr has produced three double-doubles and is averaging 10.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Prior to his season at Kentucky, Sarr was an All-Atlantic Coast Conference performer at Wake Forest. He was a third- team pick in 2019-20 and the runner-up for the league’s Most Improved Player honor. The Bordeaux, France native was a two-time ACC Player of the Week selection and became just the 12th player in Wake Forest history to earn the award multiple times in a single season. He has topped double-figure scoring in more than 35 games and has logged 13 career double-doubles. Sarr is pursuing a degree in communica- tion and is on track to graduate in May 2021. He owns a 3.337 combined grade-point av- erage between his time at Wake Forest and UK and was an All-ACC Academic Team honoree three times and has been a Dean’s List member every semester. Next >