Kentucky ended two narratives in the 70-59 road win over #13 Auburn
Kentucky's win over the Auburn Tigers is incredibly important for so many different reasons.
One reason is that Kentucky is now back in the hunt for the Regular Season SEC Title and to be a top-four seed in the SEC Tournament in Nashville.
This win over Auburn was important for the Kentucky Wildcats because it put to bed two narratives about this team. The first is the star senior Antonio Reeves can't play in big games or on the road. We have heard this time and time again, but on the biggest stage of the season, Reeves was incredible. He scored 22 points, and 13 of those 22 came in the second half. With Tre Mitchell out, Reeves was the only veteran Kentucky had, and he showed up big time. Every time Auburn would make a push, and Neville Arena seemed like the roof was going to blow off the place; Reeves would score to quiet the fans. This Kentucky team will go as far as Reeves takes them in March.
The second narrative is that Kentucky can't play defense. The Wildcats held a team ranked in the top ten in KenPom to only 59 points on their home floor. Kentucky's defense was good enough in this game to beat anyone. Kentucky was also leaving the right guys open for shots, which was good to see. If Kentucky can defend like this in the future, this team can and will go deep in the NCAA Tournament.
If Kentucky is able to make a run in March, this win over Auburn will be the one that sparked the run.
