Three things we learned in UK’s 68-53 win:
1. The road will be hard, again — Last year, UK went 2-6 in SEC road games. This year, UK lost its one and only road game, at Indiana, before playing Auburn. As John Calipari expected, UK struggled matching the intensity of the home team until a late 13-2 run that included big 3-pointers from Darius Miller and Doron Lamb.
Entering the game, UK had the SEC’s highest per-game rebounding margin, and Auburn had the second-lowest. But in the first half, UK was outrebounded by 10. And Auburn had outrebounded opponents by 8 total, for the entire season, in all combined games. UK also struggled shooting the ball, making 40.4 percent of its shots.
UK struggling on the road shouldn’t be a surprise. It happens with teams, both young and old. But it would be a lot easier for UK to stomach if it came against an opponent besides Auburn.
Still, if last year taught Calipari, the players and us any lesson, it’s to be patient when determining how much to read into road games, especially one this early in the year.
2. Players did what they had to do for the win — The double-digit win is deceiving, but give UK credit for finding its way late in the game. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, known for his energy, brought it on a key block of a layup after getting beat on a backdoor cut. Doron Lamb and Darius Miller, the team’s shooters, hit a clutch 3-pointer each. Anthony Davis did his usual thing, scoring 14 points with six rebounds.
It was enough to get UK its first road win of the season. Next up: at Tennessee on Saturday.
3. The defense wasn’t up to its usual effectiveness. The SEC’s most efficient defense let an all-too-pedestrian Auburn offense shoot 41.4 percent, the first opponent to hit the 40 percent mark in five games against UK. Especially strange was Auburn’s effectiveness getting points in the post. UK has the nation’s best two-point defense, but Auburn made 20 of 39 two-pointers.
The defense has been what’s made UK special so far this season. When the defense is average, as it was against Auburn, UK’s play suffers drastically.
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