"That was one of our goals at the beginning of the year," said
Kentucky
coach Tubby Smith about clinching the SEC East. "I think our guys
believe in what we do, and we're excited about it. We're very
happy."
Doc Robinson scored 15 points and Franklin Williams added 14 for
for
Auburn (15-11, 7-8), which has lost its last three games and trails
the
all-time series with Kentucky, 71-16. The Tigers shot just 31
percent
(16-for-51) from the field.
"I can see why they are ranked eighth in the country," said Auburn
coach
Cliff Ellis. "It was just no contest. If we had hit some shots
and kept
it close, then anything can happen down the stretch. But they
really
took control of this game, and we just never were in it."
Auburn never had a lead but was within 13-10 when N'Diaye Mamadou
hit a
free throw with 11:39 left in the first half. The Wildcats answered
with
a 16-5 burst, taking a 29-15 advantage on Padgett's 3-pointer
with 5:59
remaining in the first. Kentucky brought its lead to 40-22 when
Jamaal
Magliore dunked with 2:02 to play in the first. The Wildcats made
54.5
percent (18-for-33) of their shots in the first to take a 42-26
lead.
"I felt like I was going to have a good game, just in warmups,"
said
Padgett, who made 8-of-9 shots from the floor. "It was a great
shooting
game and I felt like I couldn't miss."
Kentucky's lead did not fall below 13 points in the second half
as the
Tigers made just 29 percent (8-for-28) of their shots from the
floor.
The Wildcats had their biggest lead of the game at 76-49 when
Turner
made a layup with 3:40 to play.
(8) Kentucky 83, AUBURN 58 KENTUCKY (83) fg ft rb min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp Edwards 20 1-5 0-0 1-5 1 4 2 Padgett 28 8-9 0-0 3-7 5 3 19 Mohammed 13 1-5 1-2 0-2 1 3 3 Turner 26 5-9 1-1 1-3 3 2 11 Sheppard 33 10-19 0-0 1-4 2 3 25 Masiello 1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Smith 15 0-0 1-2 2-4 3 0 1 Evans 12 3-3 1-2 3-5 2 1 7 Mills 14 2-7 0-0 0-4 0 1 5 Hogan 1 0-0 1-2 0-0 0 1 1 Anthony 5 1-2 0-0 0-1 0 2 3 Bradley 10 0-2 2-2 1-1 1 2 2 Magloire 22 2-4 0-0 3-8 3 2 4 _______________________________________________ TOTALS 200 33-66 7-11 15-44 21 24 83 _______________________________________________ Percentages: FG-.500, FT-.636. 3-Point Goals: 10-25, .400 (Edwards 0-1, Padgett 3-4, Turner 0-2, Sheppard 5-11, Mills 1-5, Anthony 1-2). Team rebounds: 1. Blocked shots: 3 (Magloire 2, Padgett). Turnovers: 10 (Mohammed 2, Padgett 2, Anthony, Bradley, Magloire, Sheppard, Smith, Turner). Steals: 8 (Sheppard 2, Bradley, Edwards, Evans, Hogan, Padgett, Turner). AUBURN (58) fg ft rb min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp Fishback 27 2-10 0-0 2-3 1 3 4 Williams 31 3-12 5-6 2-2 1 3 14 Ndiaye 30 2-3 4-6 1-3 1 3 8 Pohlman 32 3-7 0-0 0-3 0 1 8 D Robinson 36 6-12 2-4 0-5 5 0 15 B Smith 30 0-7 5-8 3-6 1 1 5 Mack 5 0-0 1-2 0-2 0 2 1 Chilliest 9 0-0 3-6 1-1 0 2 3 _______________________________________________ TOTALS 200 16-51 20-32 9-25 9 15 58 _______________________________________________ Percentages: FG-.314, FT-.625. 3-Point Goals: 6-22, .273 (Fishback 0-5, Williams 3-5, Pohlman 2-4, D Robinson 1-5, B Smith 0-3). Team rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 1 (Ndiaye). Turnovers: 12 (Chilliest 3, Williams 3, D Robinson 2, Fishback 2, B Smith, Ndiaye). Steals: 3 (B Smith 2, Williams). __________________________________ Kentucky 42 41 - 83 Auburn 26 32 - 58 __________________________________ Technical fouls: None. A: 9,644. Officials: Don Rutledge, Kerry Sitton, Carl Hess.