AUBURN, Ala. _ As if a hostile road atmosphere and charged-up opponent wanting to make a statement wasn't enough to overcome, Saturday's game at Auburn suggested again that this Kentucky team isn't entirely happy unless it doubles down on adversity.
This time UK had to deal with leading scorer and double-double man Nick Richards not making a field goal in the first half.
Point guard Ashton Hagans, who has been dubbed the "heartbeat" of this Kentucky team, continued his recent splurge of turnovers. He gave away the ball four times inside the first 10 minutes.
The situation was not as dire as at Arkansas two weeks earlier when referees ejected John Calipari and Hagans picked up a fourth foul with 15 minutes left. But it was challenging enough.
This time the Houdini of the hardwood could not escape defeat. Much to the delight of a raucous sellout crowd, Auburn defeated Kentucky, 75-66.
Immanuel Quickley equaled a career high of 23 points. Tyrese Maxey added 22.
But Auburn (19-2 overall and 6-2 in the Southeastern Conference) outscored UK 16-6 in the final 3:57 to win.
Kentucky fell to 16-5 overall and 6-2 in the SEC. Richards finished with seven points (his first game under double digits since Ohio State on Dec. 21). And Hagans had more turnovers (six) than points (five) before fouling out. He played a season-low 21 minutes and had his lowest point total since scoring three in the loss to Evansville.
Despite basically playing without Richards and Hagans in the opening 20 minutes, Kentucky led 35-34 at halftime. A 3-pointer by Maxey with two seconds left set the halftime score and capped his 12-point half.
Auburn made only four of its first 18 shots, and it went without a field goal for more than six and one-half minutes in the half.
There were seven lead changes in the first 4:02 of the second half.
