AUBURN, Ala. — Antonio Reeves dropped 22 and the No. 22 Kentucky Wildcats ignored Auburn's invincibility at home, beating the 13th-ranked Tigers 70-59 on Saturday night.
Kentucky's win snapped the Tigers 16-game winning streak at home, which included two straight routes of ranked teams.
The Wildcats (18-7, 8-4 Southeastern Conference) and their defense had a lot to do with Auburn shooting a frigid-cold 30.9% from the field. Then Reeves took over with a big game, giving Kentucky coach John Calipari much hope for the NCAA Tournament.
“Today was Antonio,” Calipari said. "When one guy can go do what he did in those games, it’s huge.
“We have multiple guys that can go and do stuff like that.”
The Tigers (20-6, 9-4) lost their second-leading scorer, Jaylin Williams, who suffered a right knee injury midway through the second half. Williams went down underneath the basket after a missed dunk and needed help off the court. He finished with just three points.
Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said Williams would have an MRI on Sunday.
Kentucky used an 8-2 run, including the last six points from Theiro, to take a 27-15 with 5:09 left in the half.
The Tigers would fight back to get within five, 30-25, but Reeves would score three and Rob Dillingham scored four straight points to extend the lead to 37-25 with 1:11 remaining in the half and take a 39-29 lead into the locker room.
Adou Thiero filled in for Tre Mitchell, who was out with a left shoulder injury, and scored 14 points and grabed eight rebounds for Kentucky. Dillingham added 11 points. Ugonna Onyenso, who had seven points and 11 boards.
Auburn made a big push almost midway through the second half, getting to within five points after Johni Broome’s layup with about 13 minutes remaining.
But again Reeves took over, scoring 13 of Kentucky’s next 17 points, giving the Wildcats a commanding 64-48 lead.
Broome and Chad Baker-Mazara scored 14 each for Auburn. Denver Jones scored 12.
Kentucky travels to Baton Rouge to face LSU on Wednesday night.
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