SEC Basketball Preview/Prediction: Kentucky at Auburn

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Kentucky visits Auburn on Saturday in a key SEC basketball matchup. Look inside for a preview of the game along with a prediction of the game’s final score.

By 14Powers Hoops

Team Statistical Comparison

	FG%	3PT%	FT%	ORB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TO
Kentucky	0.462	0.323	0.774	201	769	290	106	102	261
Kentucky OPP	0.389	0.289	0.667	204	641	220	101	62	252
Auburn	0.443	0.314	0.667	267	823	271	128	109	267
Auburn OPP	0.411	0.305	0.691	216	722	211	139	56	285

Statistical Leaders

Kentucky Scoring Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
Nick Richards	Kentucky	14.4	111	65	0
Immanuel Quickley	Kentucky	13.8	77	75	34
Ashton Hagans	Kentucky	13.2	78	95	12
Tyrese Maxey	Kentucky	13.2	89	64	22
EJ Montgomery	Kentucky	6.9	51	15	1
Nate Sestina	Kentucky	6.6	37	22	16
Keion Brooks Jr.	Kentucky	5.1	42	15	3
Kahlil Whitney	Kentucky	3.3	23	10	4
Johnny Juzang	Kentucky	2.4	15	6	4

Kentucky Rebounding Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	OR	DR	TR	RPG
PLAYER	TEAM	OR	DR	TR	RPG
Nick Richards	Kentucky	56	109.0	165	8.3
EJ Montgomery	Kentucky	26	65.0	91	5.4
Ashton Hagans	Kentucky	5	80.0	85	4.3
Tyrese Maxey	Kentucky	7	76.0	83	4.2
Immanuel Quickley	Kentucky	15	66.0	81	4.3
Nate Sestina	Kentucky	26	54.0	80	4.7
Keion Brooks Jr.	Kentucky	22	43.0	65	3.3
Johnny Juzang	Kentucky	8	29.0	37	2.2
Kahlil Whitney	Kentucky	14	17.0	31	1.7

Auburn Scoring Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
PLAYER	TEAM	PPG	FGM	FTM	3PTM
Samir Doughty	Auburn	14.8	89	84	33
Isaac Okoro	Auburn	12.9	94	59	11
J’Von McCormick	Auburn	11.1	81	37	23
Austin Wiley	Auburn	10.1	60	81	0
Danjel Purifoy	Auburn	9.5	63	33	31
Anfernee McLemore	Auburn	8.0	56	24	23
Jamal Johnson	Auburn	4.8	28	14	26
Devan Cambridge	Auburn	3.9	31	3	13
Allen Flanigan	Auburn	3.2	27	5	4

Auburn Rebounding Leaders

PLAYER	TEAM	OR	DR	TR	RPG
PLAYER	TEAM	OR	DR	TR	RPG
Austin Wiley	Auburn	61	122.0	183	9.2
Danjel Purifoy	Auburn	30	70.0	100	5.0
Isaac Okoro	Auburn	39	50.0	89	4.5
Anfernee McLemore	Auburn	22	65.0	87	4.4
Samir Doughty	Auburn	16	62.0	78	3.9
J’Von McCormick	Auburn	21	55.0	76	3.8
Allen Flanigan	Auburn	16	35.0	51	2.6
Devan Cambridge	Auburn	10	29.0	39	2.0
Jamal Johnson	Auburn	10	20.0	30	1.5
Tyrell Jones	Auburn	4	6.0	10	1.0
Babatunde Akingbola	Auburn	1	3.0	4	0.4
Jaylin Williams	Auburn	1	3.0	4	0.5
Preston Cook	Auburn	0	1.0	1	0.5
Javon Franklin	Auburn	0	1.0	1	0.2

NCAA RPI

Kentucky: 23

Auburn: 27

Kentucky Roster

No.	Name	Pos.	HT	WT	Class	City-State
0	Ashton Hagans	G	6′-3″	198	SO	Cartersville, GA
1	Nate Sestina	F	6′-9″	234	SR	Emporium, PA
2	Kahlil Whitney	F	6′-6″	210	FR	Chicago, IL
3	Tyrese Maxey	G	6′-3″	198	FR	Garland, TX
4	Nick Richards	F	6′-11″	247	JR	Kingston, Jamaica
5	Immanuel Quickley	G	6′-3″	188	SO	Havre De Grace, MD
10	Johnny Juzang	G	6′-6″	214	FR	Los Angeles, CA
11	Dontaie Allen	G	6′-6″	200	FR	Falmouth, KY
12	Keion Brooks Jr.	F	6′-7″	205	FR	Fort Wayne, IN
13	Riley Welch	G	6′-0″	185	JR	Littleton, CO
14	Brennan Canada	F	6′-6″	198	FR	Mount Sterling, KY
21	Zan Payne	G	6′-4″	235	FR	Lexington, KY
23	EJ Montgomery	F	6′-10″	228	SO	Fort Pierce, FL
33	Ben Jordan	F	6′-9″	250	SO	Olive Hill, KY

Auburn Roster

No.	Name	Pos.	HT	WT	Class	City-State
0	Tyrell Jones	G	6′-1″	170	FR	Chicago, IL
1	Jamal Johnson	G	6′-4″	195	SO	Birmingham, AL
2	Jaylin Williams	F	6′-7″	230	FR	Nahunta, GA
3	Danjel Purifoy	F	6′-7″	230	SR	Centreville, AL
4	Javon Franklin	F	6′-7″	218	SO	Little Rock, AR
5	J’Von McCormick	G	6′-0″	185	SR	New Orleans, LA
10	Samir Doughty	G	6′-4″	195	SR	Philadelphia, PA
12	Lior Berman	G	6′-4″	205	FR	Birmingham, AL
13	Babatunde Akingbola	C	6′-10″	236	FR	Ogun, Nigeria
14	Preston Cook	G	6′-4″	200	SO	Auburn, AL
20	Myles Parker	F	6′-8″	200	SO	Madison, AL
21	Will Macoy	G	6′-4″	200	SR	Birmingham, AL
22	Allen Flanigan	G	6′-5″	200	FR	Little Rock, AR
23	Isaac Okoro	F	6′-6″	225	FR	Powder Springs, GA
24	Anfernee McLemore	F	6′-7″	220	SR	Warwick, GA
33	Chase Maasdorp	G	6′-0″	175	SO	Lakewood Ranch, FL
35	Devan Cambridge	G	6′-6″	190	FR	Nashville, TN
50	Austin Wiley	C	6′-11″	260	SR	Hoover, AL
54	Thomas Collier	F	6′-9″	215	SR	Birmingham, AL

Scouting Report

Kentucky (16-4, 6-1 SEC) defeated Vanderbilt 71-62 on Wednesday night in Lexington. The Wildcats led this one early in the first half until the 8:46 mark when the Commodores took a 17-16 lead on a Saben Lee layup. Except for a brief tie, Vandy maintained that lead for the rest of the half and went to halftime up 35-28. In the second half Vandy built a 40-30 edge before UK gradually started cutting into that lead. An Immanuel Quickley jump shot finally put the Cats back on top 50-49 with 10:19 to play. UK would build as much as a 10-point edge in the final minutes before picking up the win. Tyrese Maxey led the Wildcats with 17 points. Vandy’s Lee paced the Commodores with 21 points. UK won this one by making five more field goals and five more free throws than this Commodores. This offset Vandys nine made 3-point shots compared to Kentucky’s three.

UK is averaging 75.4 points per game so far this season and allow 65.0 points a contest. Nick Richards leads the Cats in both scoring (14.4 ppg) and rebounding (8.3 rpg). The other players also average at least 13 points a game including Ashton Hagans, Immanuel Quickley and Tyrese Maxey. Hagans is one of the best guards in the country both offensively and defensively. Quickley’s shooting is second to none. Kentucky as a team is shooting 46.2% (2nd SEC) from the field, 32.3% (5th SEC) from 3-point range and 77.4% (2nd SEC) from the line. The Cats are second in the league in 3-point shooting defense (28.9%) and third in the conference in field goal shooting defense (38.9%).

Auburn (18-2, 5-2 SEC) defeated Ole Miss 83-82 in double overtime on Saturday in Oxford. Ole Miss dominated this game in the first half leading by as much as 18 points. The Rebels held a 37-20 lead at the half. In the second half the Rebels briefly led by 19 early in the half. After this point Auburn began to cut into the Rebel lead. With 10:05 remaining the Ole Miss lead had slipped to 50-43. Auburn narrowed the Rebel lead to 63-59 with 3:45 to play and then took a 66-64 edge on a Samir Doughty jump shot with just under a minute to play in regulation. Two Devontae Shuler free throws tied the game at 66 and the game would head to overtime. Auburn built a 75-70 lead with one minute to play in the first overtime but that period would end with score tied at 77. In the second overtime period Ole Miss forged an 82-78 edge with 3:04 remaining. However, Auburn scored the final five points of the period to gain an 83-82 victory. Shuler led the Rebels and all scorers in scoring with 26 points. Anfernee McLemore paced the Tigers with 19 points. The stats were fairly even except for rebounding and 3-point shooting. Auburn held a 45-33 rebounding edge and made 9/30 shots from 3-point range compared to Ole Miss’ 6 of 20 shots. Both teams hit 30% from 3-point range but the three more treys by the Tigers were significant in a game this close.

Guard Samir Doughty leads the Tigers in scoring (14.8 ppg). Okoro is the next leading scorer with 12.9 points a game. Center Austin Wiley is the top Tiger in rebounds, bringing down over 9 per game. Auburn is third in the SEC in scoring offense (79.2 ppg) and first in the conference in scoring margin (+10.7). The Tigers are fourth in the league in rebounding margin (+5.1) and second in blocked shots (5.5 bpg).

This is one of the most pivotal games for the SEC this season. Auburn is probably the favorite here but we predict the improving Wildcats to get another big road win.

Kentucky-Auburn Prediction

Kentucky 73, Auburn 67

Saturday‘s game tips off at 6:00 p.m. ET (5 p.m. CT). TV: ESPN.