Auburn

The numbers say Auburn's offense has not been very good recently. Southeastern Conference coaches say on a given night, Auburn's offense is plenty good enough to beat anyone, including Kentucky. "We live and die with the jump shot," said first-year Auburn coach Jeff Lebo. "We have to make shots early and try to keep it close (against Kentucky). " Making shots has been a big problem for Auburn lately. Since winning 74-71 at South Carolina Feb. 12, the Tigers have scored just 88 points in their last two games - losses to Vanderbilt and Georgia - going in to Wednesday night's game at No. 5 Kentucky.

LEXINGTON - If there is one thing Kentucky's struggling offense doesn't need it would be to face one of the nation's premier defenses. Yet that's exactly what the Wildcats have to do Saturday against visiting Auburn. "It doesn't look like a week for our offensive to be impressive," said Kentucky coach Rich Brooks. In the last three games, Auburn has limited South Carolina to 199 total yards, Mississippi to 209 and Mississippi State to 207. Those three teams have combined to score just 10 points against the 17th-ranked Tigers.

LEXINGTON - Nerlens Noel is used to getting shoved around in the post. That's why he didn't blink when Auburn used an aggressive approach against the Wildcats Saturday at Rupp Arena. In a contest that featured 40 personal fouls, two technical fouls and one ejection, Noel and the Cats held their composure and notched their fourth consecutive victory and seventh win in the past eight games with a 72-62 triumph over the Tigers. Although the physical nature of the contest effected the flow of the contest, Nerlens wasn't surprised by Auburn's game plan.

LEXINGTON - From what Kentucky coach John Calipari has seen, Auburn coach Tony Barbee has his Tigers playing harder than UK¿has been. That's why Calipari knows Saturday night's game against Barbee, who played and coached under him at Massachusetts, will be a difficult matchup for the Wildcats. “I love this team. We have so much upside. We are going to be in dogfights,” Calipari said after Tuesday's win over Tennessee. “We have to go to Auburn, Auburn is playing as well as anybody in our league right now, on the road, they are retiring numbers, it's Jersey Day, Cup Day and Bat Day in Auburn.

There were times that Tony Franklin was convinced that he would never be a part of a major college football team again. Even after he got a chance to become the offensive coordinator at Troy University in 2006, he though that likely would be as high as he would climb back into the college football world. "I was convinced that this wasn't going to happen. I was convinced nobody would ever give me the initial chance and even after that happened at Troy, I wondered if anyone would notice," said Franklin.

LEXINGTON - For the first time this season, freshman Archie Goodwin played less than 20 minutes in Saturday's 72-62 win over Auburn. Goodwin, UK's leading scorer, had just three points, two rebounds and one assist in 17 minutes of play. He was 1-for-6 from the field, missed his only free throw and had two turnovers. “Archie was struggling a little bit and I didn't start him in the second half,” said Calipari. “But again, I'm trying to get Archie to zone in on his team, what he's got to do for his team and get out of how he's playing because then you can't make a shot, you're afraid to make a play because you're afraid you are going to screw up, versus I'm playing for the team, I know what the team needs me to do, they need me to drive.

LEXINGTON — Kentucky redshirt freshman linebacker Qua Huzzie was scheduled to have surgery today on a thumb ligament and is questionable for Saturday’s game against Auburn. “We will see by Saturday how much pain he is in. If he’s not in a lot of pain, he could possibly go on Saturday,” UK coach Joker Phillips said Monday. “Right now he is questionable.” Huzzie, who missed last season with a shoulder injury and did not practice, has six solo tackles and three assists in five games.

LEXINGTON - Kentucky coach Tubby Smith used a phrase Tuesday when talking about Auburn that most UK fans probably didn't want to hear. "They remind me a lot of UAB," said Smith when discussing Auburn, tonight's opponent here. Kentucky fans have to hope Auburn doesn't play like UAB because Alabama-Birmingham stunned the Cats in the second round of last year's NCAA Tournament. In that tourney game, a smaller, quicker UAB team disrupted UK's offense with its harassing defense and created its own shots by beating UK defenders off the dribble.

Kentucky won't face one of the Southeastern Conference's top defenses this Saturday at Auburn. Instead, it will face the SEC's total offense leader and second-highest scoring team. "They are playing a very up tempo offense and have a very difficult scheme to get reads on because they give you a lot of false keys and a lot of different looks," said Kentucky coach Rich Brooks. "I think their backs are as good as any we have faced this year. They are not as fast as Florida's back, but they are very dangerous.

LEXINGTON - Auburn junior guard Chris Denson thinks it might be a mistake to assume that Kentucky could not be a factor in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. Denson, who is from Columbus, Ga.,  had 15 points and four rebounds in Saturday's 72-62 loss to UK and shared these thoughts on the Wildcats following the game: Question: Has there been any noticeable change in the way Kentucky plays from the first time you played them until now? Denson: “I think they were the same team.

LEXINGTON - For the first time this season, freshman Archie Goodwin played less than 20 minutes in Saturday's 72-62 win over Auburn. Goodwin, UK's leading scorer, had just three points, two rebounds and one assist in 17 minutes of play. He was 1-for-6 from the field, missed his only free throw and had two turnovers. “Archie was struggling a little bit and I didn't start him in the second half,” said Calipari. “But again, I'm trying to get Archie to zone in on his team, what he's got to do for his team and get out of how he's playing because then you can't make a shot, you're afraid to make a play because you're afraid you are going to screw up, versus I'm playing for the team, I know what the team needs me to do, they need me to drive.

LEXINGTON - Nerlens Noel is used to getting shoved around in the post. That's why he didn't blink when Auburn used an aggressive approach against the Wildcats Saturday at Rupp Arena. In a contest that featured 40 personal fouls, two technical fouls and one ejection, Noel and the Cats held their composure and notched their fourth consecutive victory and seventh win in the past eight games with a 72-62 triumph over the Tigers. Although the physical nature of the contest effected the flow of the contest, Nerlens wasn't surprised by Auburn's game plan.

LEXINGTON - Nerlens Noel is used to getting shoved around in the post. That's why he didn't blink when Auburn used an aggressive approach against the Wildcats Saturday at Rupp Arena. In a contest that featured 40 personal fouls, two technical fouls and one ejection, Noel and the Cats held their composure and notched their fourth consecutive victory and seventh win in the past eight games with a 72-62 triumph over the Tigers. Although the physical nature of the contest effected the flow of the contest, Nerlens wasn't surprised by Auburn's game plan.

LEXINGTON - During his time at Wright State, Julius Mays seemed to always have the basketball in his hands. He didn't worry about when or how he would get shots because he had the ball most of the time. That changed once he transferred to Kentucky for his final season. He became a two-guard that had to depend on others to get him the ball and learn how to get open without the ball. However, while he struggled at times to get open and then make shots in non-conference play, he's been one of UK's best offensive weapons in Southeastern Conference play.

A missed three-pointer by Bernisha Pinkett kept the UK Hoops team from its second straight 100-point game, but not from another 40-point-plus victory over an SEC team. The Cats cruised over Auburn, 97-53 Sunday afternoon, leading Tigers head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy to speak less than kindly of her opponent's tactics. “I thought it was pretty unclassy to continue to press when you're up by 46 points,” she said. “We're a pressing team also, and at some point we do take the press off because that becomes not respectful of the other team.” The Cats used a dominant first half of play to get to that point in the first place: Kentucky led 25-13 with 10:54 on the clock.

It is hard to imagine that a mid-January game at Auburn could even be considered in the “must-win” category for Kentucky. Yet that was exactly the case Saturday when UK responded with one of its best overall games of the season to win 75-53 to start a stretch where they will play four of five games on the road. By winning, Kentucky is now 3-1 in Southeastern Conference play and 12-5 overall. A loss would have been perhaps a near fatal hit to UK's NCAA Tournament resume, and that certainly seemed possible with freshman big man Willie Cauley-Stein out after minor knee surgery Thursday.

LEXINGTON - From what Kentucky coach John Calipari has seen, Auburn coach Tony Barbee has his Tigers playing harder than UK¿has been. That's why Calipari knows Saturday night's game against Barbee, who played and coached under him at Massachusetts, will be a difficult matchup for the Wildcats. “I love this team. We have so much upside. We are going to be in dogfights,” Calipari said after Tuesday's win over Tennessee. “We have to go to Auburn, Auburn is playing as well as anybody in our league right now, on the road, they are retiring numbers, it's Jersey Day, Cup Day and Bat Day in Auburn.

Sometimes John Calipari shows his frustration over the way Darius Miller plays. Other times the Kentucky coach tries not to be as harsh when his senior does not play the way he did last season when he was named Most Valuable Player in the Southeastern Conference Tournament and helped the Cats reach the Final Four. “Darius was a major reason for us to make the run we did last year,” said Calipari. This season he's averaging 10.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game in 26.1 minutes of play per outing.

The Kentucky women have a huge opportunity to make a national statement tonight when they host Tennessee. Auburn coach Nell Fortner certainly thinks the Wildcats have a chance to win after seeing how UK took apart her team last week in a 69-38 win. “I think it’ll be a great game, I do. I think Tennessee’s very good. They’re extremely good and they have depth so it should be a great game,” Fortner said. “I thought Kentucky’s pressure was outstanding, we just didn’t handle it very well.