Three things to watch in UK’s first SEC road game:

1. Taking care of business — UK couldn’t ask for a better opponent to open up its road schedule. Auburn may be 10-5, but a look at the schedule indicates that it just isn’t good enough to hang with top teams. The Tigers lost by 22 to Seton Hall, 21 to Long Beach State, 29 to Florida State and 30 to Vanderbilt.

Simply put, UK should be able to beat Auburn with little difficulty, even though the game is on the road.

2. Clamp down on defense — UK has built its success off a suffocating defense and gets a chance to continue frustrating opponents against Auburn. The Tigers are one of the worst offensive teams in the nation — their 95.1 adjusted offensive efficiency rating ranks 259 in the country, according to statistician Ken Pomeroy.

Meanwhile, UK is on a defensive hot streak. Four straight teams have shot under 40 percent from the field. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the Cats make it five straight.

3. Marquis Teague’s play — The freshman point guard is coming off his best game of the season. He scored a career-high 17 points against South Carolina and made consistently smart decisions with the ball.

After going through a swoon in December, head coach John Calipari has leaped to Teague’s defense this past week. Teague has a chance to build confidence against Auburn.

However, it will be tougher. Calipari recently said that he’s doing too much instruction from the sideline to help Teague’s development, and Teague said Tuesday that his coach’s input is necessary at times.

“Sometimes we’re confused out there,” Teague said. “We need to hear him.”

In road games, however, the team will be able to hear Calipari less, and much of the communication burden falls on the young point guard. Auburn provides a solid, but not overly burdensome, test for him.

“I kind of know what (Calipari) wants me to do now,” Teague said. “I’m a lot more comfortable running the floor and being vocal.”