LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Entering the season, Kentucky versus Auburn on Feb. 23 at Rupp Arena looked like one of college basketball's can't-miss matchups between a pair of Top 10 opponents and Final Four contenders.

It was anything but that on Saturday.

No. 4 Kentucky blitzed the Tigers with nine 3-pointers in the first half and led by as many as 33 points en route to an 80-53 blowout.

"I’m not surprised that they’re this good," Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said of the Wildcats. "However, I am surprised that we were not competitive today. I thought we legitimately had the chance to come in here and play with them. We were physically overwhelmed."

Kentucky (23-4, 12-2 SEC) won for the 13th time in its last 14 games. Auburn, trending the other direction, dropped to 18-9 overall and to a disappointing 7-7 in league play.

PJ Washington continued his stretch of dominant play, scoring a game-high 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field. Among those buckets were a career-high five 3-pointers for the sophomore forward who elected to bypass last year's NBA Draft and return for a highly productive season at UK.

"He's playing like the best player in the country right now," UK head coach John Calipari said. "He really is."

"He’s big and strong enough to physically dominate the most physical and powerful forwards in the country," Pearl said, "yet, he’s quick enough and skilled enough to be able to step on the floor and do things like a big guard. National player of the year candidate without question.”

The Cats also got big contributions from freshman wings Tyler Herro (17 points) and Keldon Johnson (8 points, 17 rebounds, 5 assists). It marked a career high on the glass for Johnson, who picked up some of the slack from UK playing without grad transfer forward Reid Travis due to a sprained knee.

In Travis' absence, the Cats also got a combined 10 points, 10 rebounds and six blocked shots from big men EJ Montgomery and Nick Richards.

Kentucky shot 55 percent (30 of 55) from the field, knocking down 11 of 24 from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the UK defense held Auburn to just 33 percent (19 of 58). The Tigers were held to 28 points under their scoring average.

"They’ve improved in that area," Pearl said of the UK defense. "They compete, and they stay in front of you. As a result, they took a pretty good offensive team in Auburn and made us look really bad."

Auburn was led by sophomore forward Chuma Okeke with 14 points. Jared Harper and Anfernee McLemore added 12 and 10, respectively, for the Tigers.

Paired with LSU's overtime win over Tennessee on Saturday, UK has moved into a three-way tie for first place in the SEC with the Bayou Bengals and Volunteers.

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In this Cats Illustrated "Rapid Recap" feature, we touch on some quick-hitters from the UK victory...

THE GOOD:

Timing. You never want to lose a player to injury, especially one as talented and physical as Reid Travis, but if a minor one had to happen, this was probably the right time for it. The Cats matched up well with Auburn's small, perimeter-oriented squad and showed they could beat the Tigers at their own game. If they can also take care of business against Arkansas next week, keep getting productivity from EJ Montgomery and Nick Richards, and get Travis healthy by the Tennessee rematch, there could be a silver lining from the situation.

THE BAD:

Auburn entered the game No. 1 in the SEC in 3-pointers made (11.2) per game and 3-point field goal percentage (.379). They left Rupp Arena today hitting just eight of 27 attempts for 28.6 percent.

THE UGLY:

After the game, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl somewhat apologized to the Big Blue Faithful for his team not living up to its end of the bargain. The final score was not indicative of just how ugly the Cats made the Tigers look. UK actually took its foot off the gas with more than 10 minutes remaining.

GAME BALL:

PJ Washington, Kentucky -- For the sixth consecutive game, the sophomore forward led the Wildcats in scoring. In addition to his 24 points and career-high five 3-pointers, he added six rebounds, two assists, a blocked shot and a steal to his impressive line.

BY THE NUMBERS:

2 - Fast-break points for the up-tempo Tigers.

6 - Points for Auburn's Bryce Brown, who came into the game averaging 16.3.

9 - Three-pointers in the first half by UK, a season high.

17 - Rebounds for UK's Keldon Johnson one shy of the Cats' single-game high set by Washington against VMI.

43-24 - Kentucky rebounding advantage.

94-19 - UK's lead in the all-time series against Auburn.

298 - UK head coach John Calipari moved past Joe B. Hall for second place on the school's all-time wins list behind Adolph Rupp.

23,427 - Attendance at Rupp Arena.

QUOTABLE:

"Keldon told on himself today. If he thinks he's getting two rebounds next game, I'm going to be all over him. He told on himself. You're able to get that many rebounds? You're able to go above the rim against a team like that, that rebounds like crazy, offensively?" -- UK head coach John Calipari on Keldon Johnson's 17-rebound day.

UP NEXT:

Kentucky plays host to Arkansas on Tuesday night at Rupp Arena. It will be a 9 p.m. ET tip-off on the SEC Network. The Razorbacks (14-12, 5-8 SEC) play host to Texas A&M later Saturday night.