Auburn shrinks again on the road, gets dominated by Kentucky

To say the very least that Auburn was outmatched against Kentucky is a massive understatement. Not many teams go into Rupp Arena and win, but being dominated in every way is very disappointing.

Going into Saturday, Auburn was projected around a 7 or 8 seed in the NCAA tournament, even though fans have been feverishly overreacting and even some saying Auburn didn’t deserve to be in the big dance.

That’s simply not the case, and even after this loss, Auburn still have 4 very winnable games coming up on the schedule. This team finishing 22-9 is a very real possibility and something that Auburn fans should be grateful for.

When discussing this game, you have to credit Kentucky. They average only 6 3-pointers made per game but hit 11 in this game. PJ Washington had 24 points on 9-13 shooting. Tyler Herro added 17 points and 4 rebounds.

Auburn not only struggled defensively but also on the offensive side of the ball. Bryce Brown had only 6 points, while Jared Harper only managed to score 12.

Chuma Okeke did add 14 points, but most of those were in the first half as Auburn tried to come back.

The Tigers found themselves down 18 in the first half, cut it down to 7, and then collapsed again late in the half to be down 14 at halftime.

Kentucky outscored Auburn by 14 in the first half and 13 in the second, so it was a pretty even demolition throughout Saturday’s contest.

Where does Auburn go from here?

Even with the loss, Auburn only dropped to 18 in Kenpom’s rankings. They also likely won’t fall very far in the NET rankings as losing on the road against the #4 team in the country isn’t exactly an upset.

Even with all the glass half-full stuff, something still isn’t right about Auburn on the road. Even the 11 points win over Vandy wasn’t all that encouraging being that Vanderbilt has not won a game in conference play.

I’m not qualified enough to critique Bruce Pearl’s coaching style, but something seems to bug me about how calm he is as Auburn is getting their doors blown off on national TV.

I get he’s a player’s coach, but it just doesn’t seem right to be very nonchalant about a drumming like AU experienced this game.

Dating back to last year, Auburn just couldn’t win road games and it caught up with them in the tournament. Like many Auburn fans out there on Twitter, I am not confident in this team when they are not playing in Auburn, Alabama.

Auburn has 4 conference games left, and they will be huge as this season winds down. This Wednesday, the Tigers travel to Stegeman Coliseum to take on the struggling Georgia Bulldogs and Head Coach Tom Crean, before returning Saturday to play Mississippi State at home.

Mark my words: The way Auburn closes out this season will very well determine the fortune and success the group of guys will have some tournament time.