Kentucky can all but lock up the SEC's regular season championship and continue its march to an enviable NCAA Tournament seed with a payback win against Auburn on Saturday.
But the Tigers could be a challenge as one of the SEC's better teams and having defeated the 'Cats once.
Here's what CI staff writers believe will happen.
David Sisk: This will be a battle of two teams who could go deep into March and even April. Auburn offers unique challenges. Nobody plays as hard, crashes the boards, or draws fouls as well as they do. They can go small or big. This is simply going to come down to who the better man is and who wins the individual matchups. I’m not going to whine about fouls here because I think Auburn defensed the drive better than Kentucky the first time, but I don’t think they go to the line 44 times in Rupp under any circumstances. I also look for Kentucky to pack the defense in more and make Auburn hit the outside shot. Offensively, Kentucky just has to finish at the rim. Quickley & Maxey showed up in the scoring column the first time and that was it. I think the venue change will be big, the adjustments will be made, and Kentucky is now a better team than they were then. Kentucky 76, Auburn 71.
Jeff Drummond: This has become the SEC's best "rivalry" of late. Since Bruce Pearl took over at Auburn, the Tigers have been more than competitive with the Cats, even knocking them out of a trip to the Final Four last season. I'm not willing to concede that Pearl somehow has John Calipari's number, like some have, but he's definitely got a style that makes the Tigers believe they can go toe-to-toe with UK. The Cats should be highly motivated in this one. Even though Auburn won the first matchup, people tend to forget that UK led for most of that game. Foul trouble. a deluge of free throws for the Tigers, and poor late-game execution by the Cats wound up being the difference. It may not make a lot of sense on paper, but I have a hunch this is the breakout game where UK puts it all together and finally rolls to a comfy win. Put me down for Kentucky 81, Auburn 65.
Travis Graf: The good news for Kentucky heading into this game is that they’ve played Auburn once already, and they know what they need to do to win. Auburn isn’t as nearly as good away from home. Nick Richards must win his individual matchup against Austin Wiley, who got the better of him in the first matchup. Everyone talks about Auburn’s free throws in the first matchup, and rightfully so, but Kentucky didn’t do themselves any favors. The ‘Cats lost the rebounding battle 42-28 and gave up 17 offensive rebounds to the Tigers. Kentucky got essentially nothing from anyone on the offensive end outside of Maxey and Quickley in round one, and someone must step up in a supporting role in the rematch. Hagans must have a positive game, and the Richards and Montgomery combo must come ready to battle. Quickley scores 20 points yet again. Kentucky 71, Auburn 64.
Justin Rowland: As good as Auburn has been at times this year there is no reason for me to believe a Tiger win would be anything other than a major upset. That's an odd thing to say, especially since it may very well be close (Kentucky doesn't exactly blow teams out). While close games eliminate a lot of your margin for error and leave some things to chance, there is a reason Kentucky finishes games off: They're the best team in the league and Immanuel Quickley is money late in contests. The Tigers have not been the same on the road as they have been at home, this is a revenge game for the Wildcats, Auburn is unlikely to approach 44 foul shots in Rupp Arena (their total at Auburn Arena), and Kentucky is playing some of its best basketball of the season. I also realize this has little or no bearing on Saturday's game, but Auburn has defeated Kentucky twice in Lexington in 99 years. I can't help letting that color my judgment just a little bit. Kentucky 78, Auburn 72.
