2016-2017 Kentucky vs Auburn (Game 17)

from downtown lexington kentucky and inside rupp arena we welcome you to the scc on espn today the sixth ranked wildcats welcome bruce pearl and auburn to town as kentucky looks to improve on a perfect start in conference play welcome everybody tom hart carol lawson kaylee hartung is along as well this kentucky team off to another great sec start for john calipari squad the headliners are the backcourt players the guy who very rarely loses at rupp arena but cara you think that there's a guy on the floor that's more important than the three superstars well there's no question that the aaron fox and malik monk are off to one of the best starts for a freshman backcourt in college basketball history but for my money the most important player on this team that's bam adebayo and he's a guy that has to have tremendous production on both ends of the floor when he goes off the floor kentucky's just not the same the drop off between him and the rest of the post on the rock on the roster it's severe from a productivity and a readiness standpoint it's a very young kentucky team it's a very young southeastern conference as a whole but as kaylee tells us they're not the only young team on the floor today well tom auburn second only to kentucky in terms of how much production they are getting out of their freshman four of auburn's top five scores for freshman bruce pearl says this is the youngest team he's ever coached and although last year's auburn team actually beat kentucky he says this is the most talented team he's had in his three seasons at auburn but this young and talented team missing a key piece in redshirt freshman d'angelo purifoy today he's out for a second game in a row after spraining a left ankle last weekend against ole miss he's back home in auburn progressing better than folks expected you will see a smaller lineup than we're used to from the tigers today right kaylee thanks yeah indeed they'll start tj lang at the fourth spot inside speaking of young is austin wiley he jumps center with adebayo wiley should be a high school senior right now that is taking early enrollee to the extremes auburn wins a tip there in the road orange kentucky in their home white where they have won 49 of 51 matchups all time with auburn mustafa heron with a nice look inside to wiley and the freshman from hoover alabama has auburn on the board great job from auburn what did we see what bruce pearl talked about attacking bam out of bio off of those ball screen action to get wiley a nice little bunny to start the game isaiah briscoe bumped coming around the handoff by lange and adebayo in on wiley wiley's at 6 11. good two-man game here back out to fox in the lefty leaves it short but an offensive rebound here's malik monk gabriel will put up a three at the guy you'd expect but he knocks down his first [Applause] and erin fox is going to pick up jared harper full court temple will be in question throughout this game today auburn and kentucky two of the fastest teams in the sec bruce pearl told us today pressing is our strength but we can't press kentucky [Music] i don't know if there's many teams in the country that can crest kentucky because of the speed and the ball handling ability of the aaron fox dj dunnon's into the paint that one swatted all the way out towards midcourt it came with two on the shot clock and gabriel's had an impact already in the first 90 seconds [Applause] i mean the athleticism a great job by wendy and gabriel on the help side just cleaning it up and you got to go into the paint with a plan against kentucky you can't go up there without a plan i mean autobio and gabriel they're going to send it back your way if you come in there without a plan lang banks it in to beat the shot clock and they're going to take a look at it terry oglesby says did he get it off in time they only had two on the clock on the inbounds monk does a good job there forcing him to take that shot fake because you know it's short clock and it looks like he got it off with time to spare oh yeah no surprise that language shoot it 89 percent of his attempts have come from behind the arc it was interesting in talking to bruce pearl this morning he said tj lane could come out and hit a couple threes that would be that would be big for us offensively and i don't know if he thought it would be that way off the glass but they'll take it adebayo using his muscle inside jump hook way too high and strong and here's a run out for jared harper numbers for the men in orange and a missed opportunity for dunnin's kentucky will push it the other way monk transitioned three got it and a whistle basket will count we got a foul after the ball was in the air [Applause] it came on a push-off from adebayo it's his first personal cannot miss opportunities cannot miss opportunities if you're auburn all right kentucky doesn't just intercept the ball they go pick six every single time that you make a mistake in transition when you have numbers they come back they make you pay and kentucky does with malik monk right there harper hounded by fox again immediately on the inbounds two great young guards in the sec harper beats him with the left yeah he's not afraid i mean jared harper this is your first time getting a chance to see him play he's small but he's got a ton of poise and again you see how quickly daryn fox can come right back at you kentucky is sixth in the nation in time of possession indirect fox takes it coast to coast to put kentucky back in front hot start for auburn they've hit three of four dunes got way under the basket it ends up in wiley's hands he has four early and then a bump in transition here's dieren fox doing what he does best so the last two possessions this has happened for auburn first it was harper harper shoots the layup so automatically he's going to be behind the eight ball in terms of transition defense somebody has to stop the basketball not reach but get in front cut it off and right there wiley he dunks it adebayo gets a head start in transition no one picks up out of bio for him and as a result tj lang fouls and t.j dunnings with the foul there that's his first and the second on auburn you know communication is always important in transition defense tom but it's even more paramount when you play kentucky because there's less time to spare in transition they get it up so quickly gabriel has his shot redirected follows it fights for it again gabriel with another offensive board he gets tied up and we've got a jump ball it'll stay this direction with [Applause] kentucky [Applause] briscoe nope gabriel's there again and then he just collapsed gabriel a little banged up inside another offensive rebound this time it's briscoe malik monk off the window already five offensive rebounds for kentucky and we're less than four minutes in five offensive rebounds on seven missed shots sledding is tough for dunnin's early second turnover into traffic taken away by jared harper and a whistle on the drive by harper so we've got a break in the action two teams red hot from the floor auburn at 67 to start this game meanwhile kentucky has missed seven shots but they got five offensive rebounds off of it and it's an early lead for the sixth ranked cats [Applause] and we welcome those of you who just watched north carolina knock off florida state here in sec matchup the sixth ranked wildcats meeting auburn for the 110th time in their history tom hart cara launched and kaylee hartung along as well john calipari has a young young team and everyone focuses on their back court cara but you think the most impactful and important player is the guy on the inside i do there's no question the aaron fox and malik monk have had tremendous start to their college basketball careers perhaps one of the best freshman backports in college basketball history the most important player on this team though is freshman bam adebayo he is the guy that's the pivotal piece on both ends of the floor when he goes off there's a gap and it is severe between him and the rest of the post in the offense from a productivity standpoint and from a readiness standpoint so i look for bama to bio to continue to grow and really put his mark on this team growth is the key word for this entire league the sec is the youngest league in all of college basketball it's not just this fantastic kentucky recruiting class bruce pearl has one of his own and for more of that let's go across the court to kaylee hart tom auburn second only to kentucky in terms of how much production they are getting out of their freshman for their top five scores our freshman bruce pearl says this is the youngest team he's ever coached but he also believes it's the most talented team that he's had at auburn but they're missing an important young and talented piece of it today and redshirt freshman danielle pirifoy he's out for the second straight game after spraining an ankle last weekend at ole miss he's back home in auburn rehabbing progressing better than they expected but as we've already seen on the court for auburn today a smaller lineup than we're used to out of them all right kaley thank you smaller and tj lang getting the start at the fourth he's already banked in a three today this is rough arena downtown lexington kentucky where these wildcats have won 90 of their games in 51 meetings with auburn they've only lost the party 48 meetings they've only lost twice one of them is when they're number one with sonny smith and auburn knocked off rex chapman and that great kentucky team and two head coaches with strong personalities and a long history bruce pearl obviously before auburn was at tennessee roughly the same time john calipari was building his program at memphis pearl after cal moved on to kentucky had success against the marines at tennessee nice back up by mustafa heron the freshman has a bucket auburn came into this game averaging 79 points a game 12th in the country in temple they haven't shied away from pushing it at times here in the early going well i think they have to be opportunistic with their pushing the basketball you you cannot run and try and play the whole speed that kentucky plays out for the entire game but you look to push early get some good shots now the downside for auburn of playing small is on the glass kentucky already with six offensive rebounds so that's something to watch they've got to find a way to make kentucky one and done here [Music] john calipari has yet to go to his bench in this one already bruce pearl has brought in bryce brown and ron smith and they harass adebayo into a turnover second turnover for the cats 5-10 freshman jared harper runs the point for auburn this is a basketball game and a pair of rosters that have a lot of eyeballs on them you know this is such a big game tom not just for the sec race but also in terms of these guys futures five nba gm's 13 nba scouts in the building so a lot of eyes on these young teams as kaylee talked about at the top anthony mclemore off the bench he's got a follow-up bucket there and auburn has a three-point lead gabriel has already hit one three and he hits another he started the game with a triple here's a guy only shooting 20 from deep harper with a burst of speed and he nearly turned it over this is a fun matchup heron guarded by briscoe pull up from the lefty and the freshman can't knock it down mclemore commits his first person isaac humphries off the bench for kentucky [Applause] he has yet to score in this one so this is now the stretch to watch if you're kentucky you know when bam out of bio throughout the course of season has gone to the bench kentucky hasn't fared well in terms of the plus minus and you see fox with a nice drive off of that pick by humphrey so how do they play are they able to to keep things above water here with bam on the bench ronnie johnson just checked in to transfer from houston and auburn turns it over immediately then briscoe got tripped in the open floor apparently by mustafa heron it's the first on heron we've got another great big monday double header for you at espn we start in the acc with north carolina hosting syracuse at 7 eastern then at 9 00 pm kansas squares off with iowa state also streaming live on the espn app and watch espn big win for north carolina they got theo pinson back got him back last week and they're able to get the win at home this afternoon against florida state no question that's a big win and without bradley in the lineup which i thought might be an issue with the size of florida state but great win for roy williams in the tar heels and malik monk he's just keeps doing what he's been doing and that's shooting the ball with tremendous efficiency from beyond the arc he's looking to become only the fourth freshman in sec history to lead the league in scoring the last to do it was chris jackson of lsu it's the largest lead of the game for the cats they're up five johnson rejected by gabriel his second block and now fox off and running for kentucky follow jam by humphreys seven-point kentucky lead shot clock in single digits dunnons flies down the lane uncontested that ends a 10-0 kentucky run fox the lob humphreys another finish i mean the aaron fox can get wherever he wants on the basketball floor right now this game changed when jared harper left the game for auburn they turn the point guard position over to ronnie johnson lang open from the wings you know it's always a hard decision especially if you boost pearl because you know jared harper gives you obviously your best shot to win but with this pace he can't play 40 minutes but i i think maybe you go another possession if that you might have to get him back in the ball game because daryn fox he's smelling blood right now pushing it again this time out to monk skip pass briscoe got it kentucky rolling isaiah briscoe knocks down a three time out bruce pearl in auburn this is so pretty i mean this is just beautiful basketball from kentucky i mean the way they're playing at such a high level on both ends of the floor remarkable play there by monk with the crossbow pass espn's exclusive presentation of college basketball is brought to you by the 10 any pizza carry-out deal only at pizza hut [Music] welcome back inside rupp arena another packed house for this kentucky team ranked sixth in the country this is the sec on espn kentucky undefeated in conference play 4-0 thus far auburn one and three coming off of a last-second win tuesday night at missouri there's some kentucky fans that uh well they're just so used to winning that you can snooze through the first eight minutes i suppose others are more inclined to show their support throughout the game kentucky 50 from two they've hit five of seven from deep they only made one three in their last game this is not a great perimeter shooting kentucky team but then again that might be a little nitpicky because they are one of the best teams in all of college basketball no question one of the best offensive teams we see bruce pearl at that time out smartly goes back to jared harper at the point guard position trying not to let this get any way away any more than it has and there you go right on cue the young freshman dominique hawkins has entered the game for kentucky as has derrick willis so brisco and monk the only kentucky starters on the floor right now for john calipari i'm freezing the paint and carl hess says he walked with it third turnover for the cats they do not turn the ball over that's what's amazing about the pace of play with which john calipari's team runs they only turn it over 10 times a game and with with the young players they have yeah i mean you add all those you add all those ingredients that's what makes it makes it spectacular isaiah briscoe [Applause] takes the offensive foul on the bump from herron [Applause] isaiah briscoe running the point right now for kentucky with some colorful sneakers on by the way and he's got a colorful personality a strong one to help lead this team he does you know and and he's he's taking on some of the lead guard when the aaron fox is out of the basketball game in fact in their win against vanderbilt both the aaron fox and the league monk picked up two early fouls and isaiah briscoe had to man the point guard position for a lot of the game and has done a nice job i mean here's a guy that has improved a ton from his freshman the sophomore campaign not just his efficiency you see his assistant turnover ratio there 4.8 to 1. i mean that's that's insane and uh you know he's a guy that gets out there defensively as well we've got to jump off possession arrow will stay with auburn for more on isaiah briscoe let's check in with kaylee well tom this uh cats team had to practice early on thursday morning so cal could get on the road recruiting and when cal walked in at 7 25 a.m the guys were all clapping at him like he was late because isaiah briscoe had them ready to go cal said it was a great practice and it really proved something to him about briscoe's leadership well briscoe was one of the last two guys off the floor yesterday they've been making darren fox stay late to work on his jumper he wasn't alone briscoe was there working with him alongside assistant coach kenny payne wiley the freshman got knocked off balance and still converted he has six he's a nice looking prospect disney i mean he's he's been in in the program for less than a month so still learning the college game fox lost it into gabriel's hands and he's able to draw the foul on austin wiley it would be the first on wiley and that would put one young gabriel at the free-throw line gabriel is one of those guys on this team that's overlooked when you talk about the other stars a freshman from manchester new hampshire for more kaley let's check in with you well tom tattooed on wenyon gabriel's wrist wipe your tears because that's the translation of the name wenyen in dinka the language of his native tribe in south sudan now a year before gabriel was born his mother birthed the family's fourth child she died in infancy and wengen's birth was an opportunity for the family to wipe away the tears from those moments of heartbreak following her death when he says he's felt like it's been his mission ever since to help his family do that that's an incredible story kaylee we'll continue to tell the story of wenyan gabriel how he went from the sudan through egypt and ended up in new hampshire and now in lexington kentucky with a sixth ranked team in the country it's a four point lead for uk jared harper is just a freshman running the point for this auburn team and he's able to find lang who goes back rim on it wiley had it for a brief moment now fox [Applause] fox finds that a bio and we got a blocking foul on auburn and that'll put bam at the free-throw line second personal on lane if you want to be a good transition team it starts with your point guard and head up the aaron fox surveying the floor reading the defense nice little touch pass leading your big man right not just not just leaving your big man out to dry but leading him towards the basket making him make an easy play as few decisions as possible you want the players on the fast break that you make the pass to to have to make you don't want them to have to make a ton of decisions and great job there by darren fox with the touch pass vamps got another coming his way freshman from little washington north carolina just getting better and better i mean you know we we've had kentucky before earlier on in the season saw them before in pre-season practice and you know his improvement from month to month has been remarkable his communication skills defensively being an anchor down in the paint he's very aware as a post defender bruce pearl thought there's a chance spam mata bio mind end up in an auburn uniform he visited auburn on a recruiting trip also visited north carolina state where his good friend dennis smith has been running the point no one was in and out out of the hands of harper briscoe pushes it too much for band take you back to before we got started out here today bruce pearl on the floor at ruff marina hey bam you remember me that's great adebayo was the north carolina gatorade player of the year that's a pretty good class to be part of heron couldn't finish it guys like jeff caple antoine jameson chris paul some guy named michael jordan yeah that's pretty good nick james worthy the list goes on and on and a big win for north carolina today at home that was the first acc loss for florida state mustafa heron loses it briscoe first on the floor to try and cover it up we've already had three of these here in the first half karen this time the possession arrow points to kentucky fifth turnover for auburn dunnin's will [Music] return five turnovers for teams shooting 56 from the floor which has kept auburn in this game nice back up for briscoe and a blocking foul will go against harper and isaiah briscoe will go to the free-throw you know the question mark for this kentucky team is at the four position i mean we know about their guards the aaron fox malik monk isaiah briscoe the season that those three guys have had bam is starting to come along and a force in the paint but who at the four position is gonna step up and give this team some consistent production some consistent minutes we're seeing wendy and gabriel with his activity i like the way he's played so far this afternoon but that's the big question for this kentucky team moving forward is what do they get from that spot is it by committee is there one guy that that grabs it and says hey this is mine i'm going to be the guy that's going to give us some consistency you see derek willis over there he's a part of that committee right now trying to fill that spot matter of fact they went pretty deep down the bench last time we're going to push off by smith 35 feet from the hoop on briscoe and that's a second on leron smith watching the right side of your screen as briscoe comes out on smith they even played michael mulder at the four in their last game two games to go against arkansas briscoe got happy feet and gives it right back to auburn there's always a meaning behind the madness for john calipari [Music] told us yesterday he said yeah michael mulder provided our best option when the other guys got in foul trouble but we also need to remind people that nothing is guaranteed when it comes to minutes and if i can go to somebody else at your position then you better perform [Applause] brown will let it fly off the mark and briscoe's got it isaiah briscoe finds fox spot up three got it kentucky 10th in the country in assist you see why now another takeaway fox corner three mulder kentucky rolling again this is what they do [Music] um [Applause] oh all right thanks becca rupp arena where kentucky has started to pull away they've hit nine of their last 10 field goal attempts in an 11 point lead for the cats great teamwork and chemistry this is so much fun isn't it i mean the aaron fox love his speed end to end one of the best in the country and you see the nice pass to michael mulder and how about this in terms of positive reinforcement elite monk giving michael mulder some dap cal giving him some dap excited for the young man off of the bench getting an opportunity to make a play there how much improvement have you seen from michael moulder since he first stepped on campus my arms can't stretch as far wise [Music] i watched i watched the early practice last season and i thought i don't know if michael mulder will ever see the court i mean he just looked lost out on the basketball court his first season remember junior college transfer so last year was his first season here in kentucky and he has come a long way to now being able to be trusted with minutes in john calipari's rotation they go back into the big fella working on mclemore got a little deep but still converted that's the first field goal for bam adebayo largest lead for kentucky now at 13. [Applause] and we get a trip on oneyon gabriel it's his first personal foul tomorrow night we have the 15th annual martin luther king junior celebration game on espn 9 p.m eastern as the bulls take on the memphis grizzlies it's also streaming live on the espn app and watch espn speaking of the nba a lot of guys on the floor they're going to make a lot of money playing the game at the next level able to break the press and harper has it again and it's one of the reasons we've got so many scouts and gm's in the building tonight it might double those numbers when kansas comes to town in a couple of weeks harper's got seven fox what speed he just glides up the floor and he earns a foul he'll go to the free-throw line john calipari knows something about getting guys to the league how about 1.2 billion dollars in contracts it's more than the cavaliers franchise is worth that's what the b b wow yeah i don't i don't i don't have much to say after that man that is look at that 24 kentucky players on the opening day rosters this year and you know the thing about these guys in the nba is they're not just playing in the nba they're thriving i mean demarcus cousins anthony davis john wall paul anthony towns kentucky almost doubling up the second best institution in duke putting players into the first round of the nba draft 21 since 2010. how about the fourth quarter devin booker had thursday night he had 28 points in the fourth quarter for the suns hit five threes and by the way when he came to campus that wasn't a guy that many thought would leave early johnson got a half step on briscoe and that's the second on kentucky's briscoe well every morning when john calipari gets to his office he has a printout a sheet of the last night's games in the nba highlighted with what former kentucky players did in those games and so he'll look and see what some of his guys did and send texts and that's his way of keeping up with what's going on in the nba well lately that is heavy reading i mean that's like war and peace not the dj warren piece who's in the building tonight but the book tj warren faces my guy he's your guy he had you moving ronnie johnson has been in double figures each of the last two games for auburn he had 13 in their win tuesday night against kim anderson's missouri squad [Applause] there's your guy dj warren piece on he had a parade today ben was busy today mulder straight ahead three and a half down by t.j dunnins brad brownell's team i think was able to come back and win their game at home today following dabo's parade done ends on adebayo a little floater is good what does auburn need to do offensively in this game yeah i i really think it starts with their defense actually tom getting back right so offensively what i would say to you is make shots so they can set their defense because every time it's been a miss or it's been a live ball turnover kentucky's been able to run at them if they've been able to get their half-tour defense set like that they've had better results john calipari doesn't like that shot from the leaked monk he said if you're gonna shoot that pull-up jumper with a hand in front of you do it with six seconds left on the shot clock he said six seconds left i don't care what you do just hit the rim so calipari coaching his young team they're up by seven bruce pearl's team's back in this game it's a seven point difference thanks to a 7-1 auburn run you have to attack pressure with aggression and that's what dunnons does right here and you know i thought he had a couple drives where he was out of control early a couple early turnovers but he's had some nice plays here down the stretch you have to have confidence you have to have confidence in what you do and that's something that is not in short supply for tj dunn hawkins back on the floor for the cats willises as well and he hits the long jumper [Music] [Applause] pearl's team putting this little run together with a couple of key starters on the bench right now harper and wiley leaves it short fox lost it on his way up hawkins is there now very often you see dear fox go so fast that he loses control mackie moore with the rebound ronnie johnson running a point bryce brown and it's rebounded by monk he doesn't get a lot of those hold on macklemore as adebayo is posting him up it's a second on the freshman from warwick georgia [Applause] and bam adebayo will be at the free-throw line isaac humphreys will return and bruce pearl is going to get a couple of subs in in a moment both sides here a little bit limited pace has been been something fierce austin wiley returns laying back on the floor for auburn if bruce pearl can keep this to single digits at the half he would be thrilled back to 11 now we talked about it at the top tom but they're doing all this without banjo purefoy who's their best all-around player and would give them a little bit of a match-up advantage at that four position if he were playing so this has been a solid first half to this point for all coach pearl told us to shoot around today he said listen i'm not worried about keeping it close i want to play our style there's no difference to me because i'd rather get beat by 30 and run what we run than changing what we do just to keep it respectful [Music] well you want to you want to get better and you want to use this as an opportunity to see give your players a chance to see what an elite offense what what an elite defense is and going against and he's getting that opportunity this afternoon uh so wiley with the foul that's his second let's get back to the studio and check in with doug casario [Music] [Music] wow [Music] says so dominique hawkins hit the free throw line for kentucky coming out of the timeout it's an 11-point kentucky advantage and hawkins is able to knock down one of two [Applause] kentucky only five of 11 from the free-throw line this afternoon [Music] or is spencer looking forward for auburn nothing there he's trying to post up out of bio up high spencer spins and hit the side of the backboard a couple of guys get really deep on their post position now fox the euro step but they said one too many jim belton tells us that one the euro step that was the eastern euro step seven turnover for the cats auburn's turned it into a half dozen points all right doug thank you while we're away dominic hawkins hit a free throw then auburn turned it over and now the tigers trying to make something happen towards the end of the half and a nice spin move by t.j dunnan's carol what's your reaction to 91 in a row for geno and company well first off congratulations to gino orion and the yukon huskies and i am surprised because the the non-conference schedule that they played this year i thought they would take at least one maybe two losses and the growth of this young team in the early part of the season it's just remarkable a testament to ginoriem and his coaching staff hawkins nearly gave it up he gets it back and drills a three so 91 consecutive wins for uconn's women's basketball team if geno keeps that up he might be on the calcast the second time this season he might he might be on the couch have you listened to the calcasa i have i didn't listen to the to the geno one but i don't know if john calipari really understands how a podcast works in this regard he said you know we cut a lot from that podcast gino talking about his background how he got into this his family background how that's the definition of a podcast you don't have to cut anything let it all play tj lang has his third three of the game meanwhile kentucky has hit a season high eight first half threes month oh wow and there's the danger of overplaying kentucky anywhere on the floor [Applause] a lot when they switch like that and he's having to go against the perimeter player and dunnon's saw the matchup he liked and took advantage monk on the back cut and he got bumped in the air tj lang says my bad that's his third malik monk can shoot it from deep he's a top scorer in the sec he can also do this yeah zero to a hundred and zero to what 11 feet i mean as quick as anybody in terms of his vertical vertical jump and malik monk just a special player and you know i've been so impressed with his efficiency i mean here's a guy that's the scoring at a tremendous clip but he's shooting over 50 percent from the field and 40 from three and guys know that he's the the top scorer you know he's the lead dog and he still has the ability to score with great proficiency alpha romeo halftime report coming up they'll talk about yukon's 91st consecutive win when we come back in the second half we'll talk about this team speed for kentucky specifically darren fox versus john wall well bruce has worked up quite a lather on that auburn sideline now his team is down a dozen he's watched dunnon's go to work and a follow jam by horace spencer 10 point deficit once again single digits at the half and it's a totally different feeling for auburn in the visitors locker room gabriel ill-advised and it's back to the tigers with 38 and a half left he's excited i mean he has to be pleased with their efforts he certainly made some mistakes some turnovers that led to some kentucky runouts but his guys have played hard i think he's subbed very well in this first half in terms of keeping guys fresh keeping a rotation of players out there somebody's got to come back and help harper here harper finally gets it he's only played 11 minutes in this first half auburn much better the second time around than harper went out of the game in the first [Applause] he whips it over to harper shot clock at eight and a shuffle of the steps from bryce brown in a walk turnover number eight for auburn bruce pearl is incensed at bryce brown for not shooting the basketball that's what he does he's a guy that certainly has struggled with his shot in the sophomore campaign shot 37 from beyond the ark as a freshman but it's a little bit hesitant there sometimes you know your numbers you know what you're shooting and that might have played into his hesitation shot clock off box down the paint it rolls home for the speedy freshman auburn to beat the buzzer a little late from brown and wide it's a 51-39 lead for kentucky over auburn it's their 12th 50-point half this season for a team that scores 93 points a game they've been past the century mark five times well bruce pearl showing his energy on the auburn sideline meanwhile on the kentucky sideline john calipari is with kaley heartson coach you guys allowed some points early how did your team adjust well a couple things offensively the x the extra pass was there and we won't throw turn it over walk the guy's wide open yelling one more and we're not throwing them or we could throw it ahead no we throw it over the top out of bounds those are plays this team normally doesn't make again focus discipline uh defensively again getting beat one guy just driving the ball and shooting layups come on now either you take a charge or you have someone in that can stay in front of the guy uh auburn's playing good they're competing your buddy gino just got win number 91 your reaction i'm happy for him i'm happy look it could be a hundred and i'll say this again no movies because it's not believable there's no movie written about a hundred straight wins you're crazy gonna be at south carolina though i got that schedule down thanks guys cows on top of everything nothing gets by the kentucky coach maybe not even bruce pearl as they go head-to-head for the 13th time kyle's got eight wins against him let's get you back to doug seth and lafonzo in the studio welcome back to the sec on espn from inside rough marina another full house for this sec matchup as the cats try to go through 5-0 in southeastern conference play 51-39 lead on auburn at the half welcome everybody tom hart alongside cara lawson cara what'd you like about auburn's first half i thought they were efficient on the offensive end when they settled down the later stages that first half they were able to space kentucky drive and get to the rim transition defense that's got to be a key for them and stopping the ball kentucky has eight threes but they're as a result of driving kick opportunity so you got to keep those kentucky guards in front if you're auburn it's a kentucky team that can really move they can get up and down the floor maybe one of the fastest in college basketball especially with darren fox running the points time for our meaningful returns brought to you by td ameritrade speaking of speed let's put diarrhea fox up against john wall well recent history in kentucky right one of the fastest guys end to end that's nba all-star john wall and how about from his kentucky days collegiate days him and dear fox 6.3 seconds we've seen that in live action here today slicing that auburn transition defense time and time again giving his guys opportunities a nice little feed there to malik monk for the three-point shot but least two for four for me on the arc and then you've got the little middle game the tear drop there right before the help defense comes over horse spencer whips at the air daryn fox what a pleasure it is man speed it kills i think the roots said it best on the remix some are 87 some are premium unleaded sierra fox is premium unleaded we're by the way right on the average for total possessions for both auburn and kentucky bruce pearl said we're not going to slow it down we're going to play our game we're going to be smart about it but we're not going to change what we do and auburn right there in terms of their average possessions kentucky and auburn 1-2 in the sec baseline drive will result in a whistle let's check in with kaylee hartson well tom bruce pearl knew he was going to have to pick his poison playing against this kentucky team they dared dear and fox to beat them in that first half and it turns out he did so you'll see some adjustments here as he says fox just doesn't have enough eyes on him in transition now in that first half they thought they could go under ball screens but now he wants his point guards trying to press up they can go over the top yes that opens bam up to the boards but again you got to pick your poison they're willing to do that to see if they can stop boxing yeah bruce is fully aware that kentucky knocked down eight threes in the first half monk a pair and gabriel hit two that was the third personal foul by the way on isaiah briscoe that might open the door for auburn as mustafa herron knocks down the second well certainly will help them defensively one less scoring threat on the floor on the perimeter dominique hawkins does a pretty good job on the defensive end but certainly not the scoring threat that isaiah briscoe is on on the offensive end of the floor quick look inside to add a bio and he walked with it now they love that play early on to give bam a good post look a good post-up look and you see how do you beat kentucky and ucla did it by outrunning them louisville did it by slowing it down i would add two things on the end of that outrunning them with an elite offense right i mean ucla has an elite offense slowing it down with an elite defense louisville has elite defense so you can run with them but if you don't have the horses to be able to do it and the guys that can put the basketball in the hole like ucla has whether it's lonzo ball or tj leaf you're not going to have a ton of success so you have to be elite in one area of the game to be able to do this against this kentucky team that was the second foul on jared harper wylie thought he was straight up kentucky used 201 and 3 under cal went up by double digits at any time in the game which is a remarkable number okay so let's translate those two losses to sec play south carolina comes in here a week from tonight they have an elite defense february 4th kentucky will go to florida they have an elite defense although they do it a little bit differently both tops in the leagues and steals florida gambles more in the open court south carolina fills the passing lanes well there's no question kentucky's a favorite in in every game that they play i i think this season in the sec it's a challenge to score with them and even if you have an elite defense their offense puts so much pressure on your defense to not necessarily pitch a shutout but to be pretty darn good and so that will be the challenge for florida and south carolina can they score enough to beat kentucky if their defense is playing at a high level deer fox playing at a high level the rebound the push hawkins into adebayo back out to fox and the dump for gabriel maybe took a step and then we're going to foul on the floor on mustafa here and that's his third he is a third auburn starter to have three personal fouls he with a minute and a half to into the second half moments ago isaiah briscoe and john calipari john calipari said something insightful a lot of insightful stuff anytime you talk with him but talking yesterday about a player's confidence he said anytime a coach gets on you and you drop your head that's a bad sign he said now we got some guys who will mutter under their breath to the coach come on man you don't know what you're talking about they do it under the bread to him but it's his confidence another confidence from isaiah briscoe you're going to tap the hall of famer on the back side if you watch kentucky practice you'll see isaiah briscoe smirk a lot of the times when cal is getting on him or getting on somebody else or lat i mean laugh not in a disrespectful way but he doesn't mind he doesn't mind being coached he doesn't mind that cal is hard on him from time to time and i'm sure john calipari was just giving him some words of encouragement picking up that third foul early in the second half not being able to be on the court right now with his guys single digits on the shot clock done in drives and dishes shot clock at five now the freshman heron took a bump and we'll get the whistle it'll be on bam at a bio it's his second so let's take a look we are early on in southeastern conference play florida with a huge win today canyon berry had another remarkable game he had 27 points including two four-point plays in a win at home against georgia florida i think is the clear second best team in the sec at least to this point south carolina right behind them and kentucky the outgoing favorite to win the conference again you know going back to that confidence thing tom you know i've always felt like as a player there has to be a part of you that nobody can touch that nobody can mess with that a coach can't rattle that that is just your confidence it stems from the work that you put in and how good you think you are because if you allow people to today today mess with your confidence then you're going to have an up and down career that's the way it's going to be so when cal was talking about that yesterday that resonated with me because i know as a player that's what you think is you know what i'm going to have a certain level of confidence that i know what i'm doing out there when i play i know your confidence grew year after year your time in knoxville but did you ever smirk at pat's summit you want her backwards turned yes maybe a couple times my freshman year when she was facing me that didn't go that didn't go so well i can report back that does not go well here's dunnons he's been aggressive and he's able to get to the window he's in double figures and some hand to hand inside and austin wiley picks up his fourth austin he's a really interesting story for auburn in early enrollee he joined the team on december 16th and bruce pearl said listen this kid does a lot of things well we're going to see more and more early enrollees he should be in the second half of his high school senior season but post defense is one area that he's behind defense is an area that uh most freshmen are behind i mean i can't imagine coming into conference play and not having the preseason not having the practices i i know how much the freshmen around college basketball have improved from having been in systems for three months and austin wiley is trying to do it on the fly so there's no question he makes some mistakes on the defensive end particularly and he's going to get better he practiced to the ball of two days before his auburn debut meanwhile kentucky has its own early enrollee but they don't expect to see any playing time for the newest cat this season here's that obayo beautiful touch he's got 10 now hamadou diallo just joined this kentucky program we saw him in practice yesterday what were your thoughts for a kid with his really first full workout with the number six ranked team in the country yeah i was impressed i i certainly didn't have a high expectation level because he's in the same situation as you mentioned as wiley a high school guy coming into the kentucky program you have to learn the jargon you have to learn you have to learn the scheme you have to learn the plays but i i loved his athleticism i i loved his willingness to listen and learn and uh i loved how the rest of the team embraced him it seemed like a lot of guys were out there trying to help him out and trying to get him up to speed as quickly as possible that was the third personal foul on jared harper t.j lang has three mustafa heron has three austin wiley has four and we got a whistle going the other way against kentucky [Music] michael moulder commits his first personal foul isaiah briscoe returns playing with three [Music] [Applause] anytime you watch southeastern conference basketball this season you should be reminded you're watching the youngest league in all of college basketball mississippi state ben halen the youngest team of basketball austin wiley should be a high school senior but he's playing in the sec now and so when we return we'll address the question we'll try to find an answer should i stay or should i go and the impact these two players will have on their teams this season [Music] hamado diallo a early enrollee for the university of kentucky saw him at practice yesterday bruce pearl has his own and austin wiley who's playing for auburn diablo won't be in uniform in most cases but he will travel with the team meanwhile wiley had two practices before making his auburn debut and he's been a regular part of bruce pearl's rotation he started seven games in a row now so this is something different it's something new in college basketball they've been doing it college football for years where guys will forego their second semester but they're not giving up high school football because the season is over and they get in time in town in time not to play games but to participate in the weight and strength weight strength and conditioning programs and then spring practice this is different for basketball do you like this trend well it's different in that they're also not being asked to play right away in football when they come right when they come in january they have eight nine months before they have to play in austin wiley's case i mean he's playing right away um you know i don't know that this will become a trend i mean you're asking a young man to give up a lot you're asking to give up his senior season in basketball you're asking to give up potentially these two guys in all likelihood would have been in the mcdonald's all-american game you're asking them to give up all of those opportunities for a chance to come and and practice maybe not even play games so i i think it's an individual case-by-case basis it was interesting we had a split decision when we talked to cal and bruce pearl pal didn't think it would become a trend bruce pearl seemed to think that we may see more and more guys doing it lang with the back cut it's pinned by fox and they're gonna get fox for a foul that's his second for more on hamadoo diallo let's check in with kaylee well diallo in his first full work day with the cats yesterday at practice talking to associate head coach kenny payne he was telling me how impressed he was with diallo's instincts defensively contrast that with bruce pearl in saying that he sees his inexperience and his young team really come through on the defensive end a great anecdote from payne as he said one of the kentucky big guys went up for a shot diallo got to the top of the square and blocked it the team went nuts he wouldn't tell me who that big guy was who got blocked by the uh high school senior in his first day with the cats but this guy doing a lot to impress his teammates and kayla he got a lot of help from his new teammates yeah he did i mean they were going through just some shell pieces and you know bam adebayo was on the offensive end but he was instructing diallo who was on the defensive end telling him where he should be and kind of putting his his arm on him and pushing him out to where he should be because there's a rhythm and there's a communication piece to this that's new and you talk all the time you mention football about a playbook and what you call things what what programs call things can be different and from high school to college and so those are the types of things that diallo is going to have to pick up and try and pick up quickly but i think he'll add a lot to their practices if nothing else some really good competition here's briscoe with the mid-range jumper you know it was funny i asked john calipari as we were talking to him after practice yesterday i said how does adding this kid help the program this year and he was at a loss for words for a moment he said what doesn't help the program this year it helps the kid and it'll help the program next year when we're looking for leadership and guys with experience within the program he said but to be perfectly honest the kids not going to play we don't want to play him we only we will only play him if it's what's best for the kid and for that to happen diallo will have to establish himself at practice and show that he's ready to play at this level otherwise they're not going to do it adebayo went spilling to the floor and that's going to be a foul on auburn and lauren smith his third on your screen had a bio oh yeah taken down shooting free throws the rest of the way terry ogle's being sean casey trying to figure out when that foul occurred and it'll put out about the free-throw line [Music] gabriel derrick willis returns for [Music] [Applause] kentucky briscoe with the rebound the push ahead to monk and monk walked with it it's time to learn a little bit more about windy and gabriel let's turn it to chapter two kaylee well when wendy and gabriel was born in 1997 in south sudan it was in the middle of a civil war in the country now just two weeks after he was born his family sold everything they had and fled to cairo egypt they spent three years there in a refugee camp the next move with the help of the united nations to new hampshire where he grew up there's a three from dunnin's he's got 13. so that long and winding road for wenyon gabriel ends up with him in lexington kentucky by the way he didn't play aau basketball it faces kind of competition at least not relative to what his teammates have faced nice slide by donuts he's got 15 now at a bio great position and a two-hand jam it's a 50th dunk of the season for bam adebayo he gets some high percentage looks doesn't he well he's he's fortunate enough to play with some some guys that command attention and they look early post hits as dunnon's is starting to heat up a little bit i think a way to involve bam more is in transition early post hit right there before the defense can set up get him an opportunity it's so hard to keep him out of his position don't let the defense load [Applause] tj dunnings up done a good job of keeping auburn within arm's length and he's aggressive he's attacked he's exposed some some holes in that kentucky defense particularly at the rim and he's put his head down and got into the rim that help side has been late or unaware that was a weak link in the ucla game tj lee finished with 17 for the bruins and john calipari said our defense especially on these straight line drives this was non-existent that night it's the only hole off this loss of the season for kentucky in fact they've won 45 out of 46 here at ruff dunnin's guarded by fox i don't think tj dunnings is going to give it up [Applause] fox tried to rip him from behind dunnon's finish is off the window [Applause] 20 he's one off his career high he's taken over in the second half a six-point game thanks to a 10-2 run [Applause] fox little floater and it's pulled down by auburn [Applause] tigers can make it a one-possession game dunnons gives it up and johnson got a bump from fox it's the third on kentucky's point guard a great big monday double header for you on espn we start in the acc with the tar heels playing host of the orange at seven o'clock eastern then at nine o'clock kansas squares off with iowa state both games streaming live on the espn f and watch espn has only won this building two times in their entire history man who coached him to both of those wins sonny smith is courtside with the auburn radio crew he's gotta like that move for spencer rolls it in [Applause] what did we talk about with john calipari about what is the challenge for his team do we have the discipline to play through the shot clock to execute like briscoe does right there that is what auburn has been able to do get kentucky's offense in a half court setting take them out of transition which was something daryn fox was able to run wild in the first half in doing so and in doing that they're able now to to have a fighting chance to defend them now it doesn't hurt that they're making shots when you make shots that enables you to set up your defense but that's what's kind of tilted this game back into the auburn tigers favor here in the second half so ronnie johnson at the free throw line now auburn has gone on this run thanks in large part to tj dunnins who has 12 in the first eight minutes of this second half they've done it with jared harper and austin wiley among others on the bench in foul trouble even mustafa heron who has three and as their leading scorer hasn't been impactful in the second half gotta make some free throws auburn has been abysmal at the free-throw line today frisco shot clock will go to single digits briscoe has six points tonight baseline drive he's got it so briscoe has scored the last five to open it up for kentucky [Applause] should be a mismatch and adebayo still gets the block briscoe got fouled across the face by horace spencer it's a first on spencer both teams making some adjustments coming out of the half and isaiah things start to go sideways for kentucky who steps up it's frisco nice little hesitation getting to the rim he scored five straight [Music] espn's exclusive presentation of college basketball is brought to you by wendy proud sponsor of the 2017 john r wooden player of the year [Music] well john calipari has coached a couple of players of the year a couple of national freshmen of the year as well right now his catch leads 65-50 four final fours under cal in the national championship and these aren't the only banners that hang here and rupp they have had some superstars in the history of this program my good buddy john pelfrey small mashburn tony delph with us at the sec network as you scan those jerseys the one thing you don't see is all the superstars under john calipari to get your jersey retired here you must be five years removed from concluding your playing career but it stands to reason that very soon they're gonna have to find another railing to hang those jerseys on i would think anthony davis would be uh right up there right national player of the year led his team to a national championship first pick in the draft that'd be as automatic as you can get jared harper back on the floor for auburn harper drives got a bump from humphreys meanwhile chuck person has his number retired by auburn he was part of the team one of two teams that came in here to knock off kentucky in the history of this series between the tigers and the wildcats bruce pearl does a little bit different with his coaching staff chuck handles a lot of the defensive calls where bruce will handle a lot of the offensive call one of my favorite nba players of all time when i was growing up the rifleman [Applause] shouldn't he be coaching offense that's always been my question [Applause] uh you know a lot of coaches want to give their assistant coaches opportunities to be well-rounded and i know chuck has has designs on being a head coach and running his own program one day so i think it's good to have have a balanced approach to what you do as a group he had 20 points back in their meeting in 1983 as an eight-point auburn win they knocked up the sixth ranked cats also beat him here in 1988 knocking off rex chapman and kentucky with a last-second shot from john taylor corner three months whoa he can rise and fire 15 now for the freshman he gets so much elevation as jump shot it looks almost impossible to defend dunan's nice hesitation beautiful move to the rim he's been great hasn't he a career high 22. wow inefficient briscoe and that was designed by john calipari just let isaiah briscoe do his work and his ability to drive to be able to finish among the trees i mean it's as good as it gets in college basketball i mean frank mason has has been created for kansas isaiah briscoe in terms of his strength and his ability to finish through contact around size is just remarkable briscoe whistled for the illegal screen he put lang on his backside that is the fourth down briscoe t.j dunnins is doing seemingly whatever he wants on the floor he's been able to keep all burnett arms blank i mean every time it's felt like kentucky's going to pull away with this thing getting a double-digit lead and and stretch it out even more dunnon's has done a terrific job of just making individual plays i mean individual plays one-on-one utilizing his size and his breakdown ability just to make make shots for his team he's been able to get to the rim kaylee what are you hearing from the kentucky bench and john calipari about defending those drives well cal looked at his team almost quizzically during that last timeout saying you're just letting them drive you can't push up on them and allow them to go around you you got to give them some ground and then cut them off meanwhile on the other side kentucky has turned it up offensively now in the second half after a slow start they've hit seven of 14 overall [Music] [Applause] auburn had it as close as four fox hangs and draws a whistle [Applause] it's a second on horace spencer [Music] the many faces of john calipari [Applause] i tell you what if he wasn't wearing a white shirt we might see some sweat like like bp over there okay if he wasn't win or had didn't have a button coaching is its own kind of sauna mr both into spencer's hands see if auburn has a run in him watching john calipari as its own kind of theater has been remarkable in the second half set up month for the crossover and monk recover to block it eight on the shot clock [Applause] [Music] [Applause] aaron steps through and he banks it in fox on the run to hawkins [Music] adebayo pushed off he sent spencer sprawling it's the third on kentucky's big man so on one side john calipari the equally is animated bruce pearl [Applause] mismatch heron got it big time three from the freshman we've got a six-point game [Applause] [Music] [Applause] monk the answer [Applause] [Music] that's his fifth [Applause] 7 23 remaining and rough jared fox beside himself with frustration he's done with 13 points and the crowd said to come alive here at rough does auburn have more magic in their hat let's check out our wendy's wooden watch two of the best players in the sec represented two of seven freshmen nationally on the mid-season 25 watch list these two guys make up the back court that has to be considered for one of the best freshman back courts in college basketball history look at their production today but the aaron fox picking up his fifth foul right here [Music] mustafa heron drives to the basket and he is not pleased at all a little bit of a gamble to have fox in there with four foul seven and a half minutes left in the ball game they will now be without his services and drawing some high praise from our chad ford this big board malik monk ranked fourth the aaron fox ranked ninth so two top ten picks projected in the nba draft in 2017 we've talked about the first half five nba gm's almost 20 nba scouts here in attendance to watch not only these guys but the other freshman in this game fox will watch the rest of the game along with those gm's after fouling out mustapha heron goes one of two from the line he's the first five star to sign in auburn history neither team shooting the ball well from the free throw line auburn just four of 13 kentucky 10 of 23. it stands to reason that somebody is going to lose this game at the free-throw line today with brown in front of him john calipari wondering where the whistle was door open for auburn hawkins out of there with it here's monk behind the back over shoulder hawkins to jam [Music] how good was that full speed malik monk eludes the first defender nice little drop over the shoulder pass to dominique hawkins that is a special play and now we hear rough now we hear they get it going getting behind their teams [Applause] [Music] harper from deep auburn on the floor to get it and it'll be over and back and an auburn turnover 12th turnover tonight for the tigers we talked about leadership in the first half and and where does it come from from this kentucky team when you have a team that has so much youth and the player it comes from is isaiah briscoe and he is now into the forefront not only as a leader but by position the aaron fox is out five fouls who takes over the point guard position it's briscoe to help lead this team down the stretch [Applause] i'll reach in on bryce brown who commits his second personal foul isaiah briscoe in the first half only had three points took a seat on the bench 20 seconds into the second half with his third foul he's still come alive since then [Applause] so briscoe out of the game for a moment mulder on the floor they'll let hawkins run the point monk's 10th 20-point game of the season the leads back to a dozen this is a scrappy auburn team that might sound disrespectful that they're not talented they are also very talented but we're showing we're seeing tonight they've got the attitude of their head coach they're not going anywhere and another big one bryce brown with his first bucket of the game wow what a time for bryce brown to hit a shot we talked about how he struggled from beyond the arc this season it's a big time play brown gambled and he commits his third tonight at 11 eastern be sure to tune in to sportscenter night with kevin connors and nicole briscoe though i have highlights and breakdowns from the seahawks falcons and texas patriots and as well as the nba nhl college hoops the sony open previews of tomorrow's divisional games and everything else from sports back saturday also streaming live on the espn app and watch the espn it's a lot going on in sports today great college hoops saturday incredible saturday duke in louisville louisville beat duke and the aci i was wondering as i was watching the game so who who do kentucky fans cheer for when duke plays louisville oh my goodness what happens there they cheer for a blackout i think kaylee knows the answer to this talking to a kentucky fan before this game he asked me what i thought of the outcome he said you know we don't want anybody to win that one pushing inside [Applause] and wiley commits his fifth [Applause] so bruce pearl's starting center is done wiley with six points and he's done darren fox fouled out at the 7 23 mark pearl's got a minute to decide who's going to replace wiley he's going to go with spencer and he wanted to pause a moment to give the officials a chance to think about it had a good game against missouri didn't miss a shot in a tuesday night win in columbia big time foul trouble for auburn round three harper three [Music] aaron three oh my goodness monk with an emphatic deuce he's got 22. [Applause] five minute mark heron lost it here comes mulder [Applause] and one and the third personal foul on horus spencer can we see this again i mean this was so you got to look away you got to look away right after it happens look at this ah i mean his ability to rise and fire and you know you play like that just gives confidence and energy and a little bit juice to everyone else on the floor and mulder's able to finish that transition play and get the and one but i feel like i feel good you know i feel good over here malik mum thumps like that you know bruce pearl doesn't feel good about it but he spoke in reverential tones in almost giddy excitement about the talent that's on this kentucky team with us this morning saying i mean this let's appreciate what we have in front of us you know sometimes these kentucky teams aren't appreciated he said we beat him last year that wasn't a great kentucky team this is a great team and they are fun to watch they're great for the sport of college basketball all right what the aaron fox and malik monk have been able to do uh it's it's not normal and you know kentucky has made a habit of great freshman and people around college basketball think this is normal this is not normal to acclimate as quickly as they had to be able to be such high achievers particularly on the offensive end of the floor for both of them it's it's remarkable what they're doing in their young careers dunnin's now has 23. so they're being judged each and every day by the fans in big blue nation and by the scouts that watch it for the next level they're also judging themselves right kaley tom before the vanderbilt game this past tuesday sean farnham and i asked malik monk how would you grade yourself out to this point in the season he said i give myself a c we said what why he said because i i'm not rebounding enough you know cal has told him every game he thinks malik monk should be a double-double kind of guy those rebounding numbers have not yet followed to the place monk and coach cal want them to be well i'll give him an a for scoring only three times in sec history has a freshman led the league in scoring chris jackson scored 30 a game for dale brown and lsu in 89 bernard king scored 26 and 75 and back when georgia tech was in the conference jim nolan did it in 1946 but cal is like that professor that you stay away from man because of those are the grades that you're that that he's going to be giving out i mean i know that was malik self grading but you talk about somebody that stays on his guys that is never satisfied that is always picking at them that is always challenging them day-to-day in practice how can i expose and give them something that they need to work on and keep them on edge and that's that's a part of his coaching genius that that's that's what makes him a special coach well it's easy to be comfortable right but how do you improve if you're never uncomfortable and that's part of the development that each and every kid seems to go through when they get here spencer got hurt and a vile adds to the insult spencer took a shot to the throat and adebayo jams it for his 15th point and malik monk is just laughing out on the floor you think they're having fun heron mid-range oh monk lost his man [Music] [Applause] gabriel on the glass gave it up just as he was being honked tied by t.j dunnings who commits his third kentucky playing above the rim to delight a big blue nation and their very own teammates how about the reaction from the kentucky bench well this game got out of control in a hurry and it's about the explosive athleticism of malik monk and company the bench those guys they're loving it welcome back to ruff arena kentucky with the lead on auburn with 320 remaining we've told you the first two chapters of winning gabriel's story his chapter written tonight is a great one in terms of rebounding he's got 13 it's a new career high for more on how he ended up in lexington let's go back to kaylee well tom we've told you about the heartbreak that when you gabriel's family experienced with the loss of his little sister we told you about the journey he traveled to come to america from the south sudan this is a young man who takes a great sense of pride in where he's from he hangs the flag of south sudan in his dorm room but also a young man who has a great sense of pressure that he puts on himself to take care of a family that has now weighed made their way to america talking to associate head coach kenny payne before the game he said he puts this incredible amount of pressure on himself and as a result his confidence wavers but pain will tell gabriel throughout a game tell me you're a king because from where you came you are a king you know when you great gabriel i love his approach he works he works his butt off i mean he works before practice he works after practice he's a guy that that has a good looking shot but hasn't shot a great percentage from beyond the arc and hit only four threes coming into today's game has two already this afternoon kentucky is looking for a fifth player they're looking for a guy that will step up and say you know what i'm going to be consistent i'm going to be someone you can depend on going on today's performance it might be when you gabriel the player moving forward that locks that up my favorite part of the story and we've gotten through three chapters is that there's more to be written for you yes much more yes 16-point lead for kentucky of all things windy and gabriel grew up a duke fan [Applause] that's the only thing that big blue nation doesn't like about william gabriel out of bio kicks it out out of bio and gabriel over the first two wildcats on the floor today monk lost it shot bucket one throws it up and throws it in is this kid having fun or what hey malik mark college basketball is not supposed to be this easy [Applause] tough angle for dunnon's gabriel with another rebound 14th of the day joe linardi has kentucky as the number one seed in the ncaa tournament the latest version of bracketology they have a huge out-of-conference game coming when kansas arrives at rough arena in a couple weeks but then the question is who in the sec can give them a run mulder takes a victory lap which team defensively matches up better with kentucky florida or south carolina you know i like south carolina in terms of their connectivity on the defensive end of the floor but i like that florida has a bunch of different guys and some players with size and some different things that they could throw at so i don't know if that's considered a push or not but i think each have have have a different strength against this kentucky team talking to bruce pearl today and about the opportunity to press or not press kentucky made me lean a little bit more towards south carolina because casey hill and porter will gamble in their full-court press and as pearl pointed out if you gamble you get beat it's a dump the other way so mike white company will have to decide what their game plan will be meet up with him twice three best teams in the league will all meet twice by the way south carolina should be ranked coming into next week there's some losses in the back end of the top 25 including penn state knocking off number 24 minnesota today auburn got within four early stages of the second half when briscoe was on the bench in foul trouble he returned kentucky was able to pull away and malik able to lead the way for kentucky with a team-high 24. brown will spot up what'd we learn about auburn today i was impressed with auburn did not have one of their best players in danger purifoy their power forward this is a team that's beaten texas tech they've beaten oklahoma they've beaten uconn they acquitted themselves pretty nicely kentucky ran away with it in the end but impressed with auburn as well jared fox fouled out with seven minutes to go it didn't seem to impact this kentucky team because when fox left monk took over monk finished with 12 points in the second half and a couple that got him out of your seat highlight variety i mean the explosiveness of malik monk and how quickly he's able to make just these highlight plays a great performance another great performance for the young freshman so kentucky goes to 5-0 in sec play they'll be in starkville to take on mississippi state on super tuesday at seven o'clock once again our final kentucky over auburn 92-72 coming up next on espn sportscenter good night from lexington

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Views: 3,613

Rating: 4.647059 out of 5

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Id: cIu1x_vEmQM

Length: 89min 53sec (5393 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 30 2020