ESPN predicts winner of Saturday’s game between No. 1 Auburn and Kentucky

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The Auburn Tigers will attempt to do something on Saturday that has not been done since 1988. That is to win at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky. The Tigers defeated the Wildcats 53-52 on Jan. 9, 1988, and were led by Chris Morris with 18 points. Winston Bennett scored 20 that day for the Wildcats, ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll. Since that day Auburn has lost 20 consecutive games on the road to Kentucky.

The ESPN matchup predictor has 65.2% believing Auburn will win Saturday over the homestanding Wildcats. Auburn has won five straight games since their shocking loss at home to Florida. It has been an up and down month of February for the Wildcats going 4-4. The losses have come against Arkansas, Ole Miss, Texas, and Alabama. During that stretch they have defeated South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, and Oklahoma.

Auburn is fifth in college basketball averaging 85.1 points per game. They are also coming off a game against Ole Miss where they shot very well from three-point range. Auburn went 11 of 21 in their 106-76 defeat of the Rebels. Johni Broome has played great in the last two games, scoring a combined 55 points and 23 rebounds.

The Kentucky Wildcats are slightly above Auburn, scoring 85.6 points per game, and are led by Otega Oweh with 16.1 points per game. The Wildcats will be without their second leading scoring Jaxson Robinson (13 points per game). Kentucky has struggled on the defensive end and are 15th in the SEC giving up 76.6 points per game. Some of that is due to the up tempo style the Wildcats play.

Auburn enters the game with a record of 26-2 and 14-1 in the SEC. The Kentucky Wildcats are 19-9 overall with a conference record of 8-7. The game will air on ABC with a tipoff time of 1 p.m. CT.

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This article originally appeared on Auburn Wire: ESPN predicts winner of No. 1…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/espn-predicts-winner-saturdays-game-142803927.html

Author : Auburn Wire

Publish date : 2025-03-01 14:28:00

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