AUBURN, Ala. - Auburn (16-8, 5-6) took care of business at home vs Kentucky (9-16, 2-9) with an emphatic 78-52 win that not only secured a second-straight winning season for the Tigers but also matched their SEC win total of five in five fewer games than 2022.
Auburn jumped out to an early 8-0 lead, not allowing Kentucky to score a point until the 6:10 mark in the first quarter when the Wildcats made it 8-2 courtesy of forward Ajae Petty. From that moment, Auburn’s defense locked back down, allowing just two more points to Kentucky and ending the opening quarter with a 22-4 lead.
“I thought our kids came out and we wanted to set the tone. We wanted to throw the first punch,” said Coach Johnnie Harris. “I thought we did that. We were super aggressive on the defensive end. We were in the passing lane pressuring the ball.”
However, the strong start didn’t mean Auburn decided to pull any punches, and the Tigers continued to hold Kentucky at around a 20-point margin through the rest of the game before pulling away in the fourth and securing the 28-point victory.
Honesty was once again the best policy for Auburn on offense, as Scott-Grayson led the Tigers in scoring with 22 points, her fifth straight game with 20 points or more.
“[I’m] Just playing my role,” said Scott-Grayson when asked about the dominant stretch. “Taking those shots, those wide-open shots, getting my teammates involved. I just go out there and not think about it too much and just let the game come to me.”
Taylen Collins also enjoyed a superb performance, racking up a season-high 19 points. Collins also recorded 11 rebounds to secure her third double-double of the season and second in the last three games.
“I was just finding the little gaps that the defense was giving me,” said Collins when asked about her performance. “My teammates did a great job of finding me, especially when they were attacking. It kind of left open lanes for me to get the pickup points.”
Auburn has been right on the edge of the NCAA Tournament bubble conversation recently, and the Tigers know that wins in the games that you are expected to win, like this one, are the wins that can be the difference between making and missing the tournament. Seniors like Honesty Scott-Grayson and Jamya Mingo-Young, know that this year is their last chance to make that tournament dream a reality.
“They [Scott-Grayson and Mingo-Young] went to work; they got after it. They were not happy starting one and three,” Coach Harris said when asked about her seniors’ responses to a slow start in SEC play. “They did not want to let this season go down the same path. So, they got their team together. They went to work.”
Auburn will need to continue that hard work for the final five games of the season, as the Tigers will have to play four of the top seven teams in the SEC, including road trips to Alabama and LSU, before finishing the regular season in Gainesville taking on the Florida Gators. First up, though, is the trip to Tuscaloosa to take on the Crimson Tide. The game will be Sunday, Feb. 18 at 2:00 and will air on SEC Network+ and the Auburn Sports Network.
