Kentucky basketball finally dominates vs likely NCAA Tournament team, beating Auburn by 32

LEXINGTON — Kentucky has beaten teams of varying qualities, in nearly every possible manner, during its eventful 2022-23 season. The only type of victory the Wildcats lacked: a commanding decision against a likely NCAA Tournament team — a win in which UK didn’t allow the opponent to rally late and make the final minutes more dramatic than need be.

Saturday, Kentucky changed that.

Hosting an Auburn team just one game behind it in the SEC standings, and aiming to strengthen its own NCAA résumé, Kentucky dominated the latter part of the first half and the final 20 minutes of the game to earn an 86-54 triumph at Rupp Arena.

"We've been showing them the tape," Kentucky coach John Calipari said. "We've been watching. We said, ‘Why this? Why that?' So I've got a very intelligent team. And they're getting it. But you've got to be confident."

On the gridiron:How Ray Davis' unique path to Kentucky football prepared him to fight for starting RB job

Especially in each other.

"You’ve got to trust all your teammates are on the same page so that you can be a risk-taker, you can make some plays, you can be aggressive, because your teammates are behind you," Calipari said. "And they also know and trust that whatever the game plan is, everybody's locked in. Our shootarounds right now are 30 minutes. Thirty. These dudes are locked in. Bang. And then we go."

Saturday marked the Wildcats’ (20-9, 11-5 SEC) fourth straight victory, all against quality foes. Though the Tigers (19-10, 9-7) entered Saturday 33rd in the NET rankings — making this a Quad 2, not 1, win for the Wildcats — the regular season isn’t over. If Auburn rises into the top 30 of the NET, it will hand UK yet another Quad 1 win. For now, the Wildcats are still 5-7 in Quad 1 games — the contests most crucial for a team’s tournament résumé. Saturday’s win improved UK’s record to 6-0 in Quad 2 games.

The final score isn’t indicative of how competitive the contest was early on, though.

The teams swapped the lead seven times within the first 15 minutes.

Then, the Wildcats put their foot on the pedal and left the Tigers in the dust.

Kentucky ended the first half on an 8-0 run, then scored seven of the first nine points after halftime.

Auburn never recovered. 

'He's going to light it up':What to expect from new Kentucky quarterback Devin Leary

"It feels good," said Oscar Tshiebwe, who posted game highs in points (22) and rebounds (17). "This win is helping us with the coming-up games. We're about to go in the (conference) tournament. (Auburn is) a really good team."

In his first meeting with the Tigers, UK freshman Cason Wallace (19 points, game-high nine assists) expected more.

"I thought it was going to be hard-nosed the whole game," he said, "But once we went on a run in the second half, I saw they started to slow down and drop their heads."

Whether the Wildcats actually made the Tigers quit is debatable. What isn't: Kentucky, unlike its home victory over Tennessee and road wins against Mississippi State and earlier this week against Florida, refused to let a wounded foe recover. Wasting double-digit leads had been one of the team's undesirable hallmarks this season.

Players were sick of it. During breaks in Saturday's action it was the only topic of discussion.

"We talked about, 'You've got to stay on it. Finish the game,'" Wallace said.

As much as the lopsided outcome represented something heretofore unseen from this edition of the Wildcats, it symbolized a return to form in another way: Tshiebwe was back to his old self.

He recorded the 44th double-double of his UK career Saturday, securing it by intermission with 14 points and 10 rebounds in the opening 20 minutes.

Bracketology:Latest NCAA Tournament projections for Kentucky basketball

Tshiebwe — trailing only Dan Issel (64) and Cotton Nash (48) in career double-doubles in UK history — hadn’t notched one in either of the Wildcats’ last two outings. Since joining Kentucky prior to the 2021-22 season, he’s never gone three straight games without posting a double-double.

He avoided that (unwanted) personal history Saturday.

"For me now, I have no distractions. I’m just in the gym, focused, locked in," he said. "We play together and we just stay focused. Right now, I have nothing distracting me from this path. I came back to win a championship. I’m pretty confident right now with this team and where we’re going.”

The Wildcats hope it's a road leading to the 18th Final Four in program history. And potentially, a ninth national title.

"If we just keep our foot on the gas like this and ride it out through the (end) of the year," senior guard Antonio Reeves said, "it's going to be very hard to beat us."

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @RyanABlack.