No. 1 Auburn is the top team in all of basketball for a reason. And if someone had any doubts about that, they just made a pretty big statement in their win over the No. 17 Kentucky Wildcats.
Johni Broome and company routed the Wildcats 94-78. It was the first Tigers win at Rupp in almost four decades, and it headlined some of the issues Mark Pope’s team has had to deal with all year long.
That’s why, on top of tipping his hat to his opposition, the Wildcats’ coach had no choice but to take the blame for not getting his team ready to perform against such a good team.
Mark Pope takes the blame for loss to Aurburn
“I would love to make excuses on that,” Pope said. “That ultimately falls on my shoulders. Credit goes to Auburn also. They’ve done this, you know they’re a good team. They made really hard shots tonight and their switching was a deenergizer for us and we did not respond to it well at all.”
Granted, the Tigers have one of the leading candidates for Player of the Year, and they’ve been dominant all year long. Also, the Wildcats clearly miss Jaxson Robinson, who’s going to be out for the season.
Even so, the Wildcats went just 4-of-17 from beyond the arc in the loss. They struggled with the Tigers’ physicality, and it’s not a good omen ahead of the tournament.