AUBURN, Ala. — The most significant win of Kentucky ‘s season so far came in stunning fashion Saturday night inside this orange-and-blue barn on the Farm they call “The Jungle.”
The 22nd-ranked Wildcats strolled into Neville Arena and controlled the conversation for 40 minutes. A 70-59 triumph over a 13th-ranked Tigers team that was days removed from 40-piecing No. 11 South Carolina 101-61 in this same place. Auburn had never beaten a top-15 team by that many points. This joint was a jungle on that night; on Saturday, it was a tangle for the Tigers.
Neville Arena has built up a reputation in the past five years as one of the harshest environments in college basketball, but UK made that a falsehood immediately, taking an early lead and never trailing thereafter. Kentucky delivered the first home loss of the season for Bruce Pearl’s team, which was held to 30.9% shooting — one of its worst offensive outputs ever under Pearl.
And the best defensive field goal percentage for Kentucky this season.