When we look back on this game, we’ll probably think first of the fouls. Forty-nine were called tonight, 29 on Kentucky and 20 on Auburn. The Cats shot 24 free throws to the Tigers’ 44, a frustrating and telling stat; however, an even bigger component to tonight’s loss was rebounding. Auburn absolutely manhandled Kentucky inside, winning the rebounding battle 42-28. The Tigers had 17 offensive rebounds to the Cats’ 6, leading to 17 second-chance points.
Kentucky’s performance on the offensive boards has been an issue all season, and John Calipari brought it up first in his postgame press conference.