Auburn basketball vs. Kentucky: Our scouting report, score prediction

AUBURN — The last time the Tigers went into Rupp Arena and defeated Kentucky, Ronald Reagan was the president of the United States, coach Bruce Pearl was an assistant at Iowa and not a single player on Auburn basketball's roster was alive.

But, hey, why not this year?

The Tigers go on the road to take on the Wildcats on Saturday (3 p.m. CT, CBS). After starting the season 10-6, Kentucky (19-9, 10-5 SEC) has picked up some key wins, including season sweeps of Florida and Tennessee. Coach John Calipari has led his team to three straight victories, with the most recent being an eight-point road win over the Gators on Wednesday.

Kentucky is ranked No. 31 in the country by KenPom with an adjusted offensive efficiency mark of 117.2, good for 15th-best in the nation. Adjusted offensive efficiency is a stat that estimates how many points a team would score against an average Division I defense per 100 possessions.

Here's a scouting report for Auburn's (19-9, 9-6) game Saturday, and our score prediction.

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Oscar Tshiebwe

Any discussion about the Wildcats must start with senior forward Oscar Tshiebwe, who is the reigning National Player of the Year.

The 6-foot-9, 260-pound Tshiebwe is averaging 15.8 points and 13 rebounds per game on 54.5% shooting from the field this year. He leads the SEC in total rebounds (329), offensive rebounds (133) and his 5.2 win shares are good for second in the conference, behind only Alabama's Brandon Miller.

Auburn got abused on the offensive glass against Ole Miss on Wednesday; the Rebels won that battle, 17-7, and cashed in 16 second-chance points. That won't cut it against Tshiebwe, and Pearl knows it: "(Ole Miss) is strong, but Kentucky is bigger, stronger and more athletic. ... If we rebound like we did tonight, we’ll get beat by 40," he said Wednesday.

The backcourt

Kentucky has two of the SEC's best playmakers in Sahvir Wheeler and Cason Wallace. Wallace, a freshman, is a starter and averages 4.1 assists per game. The Wildcats are paced in assists, however, by Wheeler's 5.6. But the senior hasn't appeared in a game since Feb. 4.

Wheeler is expected to return "sometime in the near future," according to the Courier Journal. CJ Fredrick, a 6-foot-3 guard who's averaging 7.3 points per game but hasn't played since Feb. 7, is also expected to rejoin the fold at some point.

Good 3-point percentage, not many makes

The Wildcats have five players with at least 40 attempts from 3-point range shooting above 33%. Two of those players − Wheeler (36.6%) and Frederick (33.3%) − have missed time. The other shooters include Antonio Reeves (41.6%), Chris Livingston (38.1%) and Wallace (35.4%).

Despite the percentages, Kentucky ranks middle of the pack in total made triples, as nearly 70% of its field-goal attempts have come from inside the 3-point arc. Eight SEC teams have made more threes than the Wildcats, despite them leading the conference in 3-point percentage.

Score prediction

Kentucky 72, Auburn 69: The Tigers are coming off a key victory over Ole Miss, a win that signified Auburn's ability to finish contests effectively. But Kentucky's home-court advantage will be too much for the Tigers to overcome. Johni Broome and Tshiebwe battle it out, but it's the latter's team that prevails.

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn basketball vs. Kentucky: Our scouting report, score prediction