Kentucky defeated conference rival Florida for the 3rd time this season in the Quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament. After moving to 32-0 on the season the Wildcats matched their own record of the best start of any SEC team.
What may come as a shock is that Kentucky is playing Auburn; a team who had to play the first day of the SEC Tournament. This Auburn teams has stepped it up in the post-season and is showing flashes of what Bruce Pearl's squads will play like in the future.
Auburn defeated LSU in an absolute March thriller that was sent to overtime by a game-tying 3-pointer from KT Harrell. Auburn took over in the extra time and never looked back as they defeated LSU 73-70.
To think this Auburn team only won four SEC games in the regular season is insane. Though, their reward for their play isn't the best.
Having to play 3 straight games will begin to show with Auburn after having to play such a well-conditioned Kentucky squad. These Tigers will try to use whatever energy they have left to knock off #1 but they could fall terribly short.
Speaking of short, Auburn's players will be at one heck of a size disadvantage on Saturday. The Tigers will have to play without Jordon Granger due to a fight that broke out in the middle of the game against LSU. Punches were thrown by Granger and a suspension is in rule.
That will hurt Auburn as he is their tallest player and one of their best bench players. Granger doesn't get on the scoreboard often but he makes himself a presence on defense and on the boards.
Kentucky will be at full strength and less worked than Auburn as they've only played one game. Kentucky's limited minutes per player comes in handy at this time of year.
If Auburn wants to pull off the upset they'll have to do a lot. Outside shots will have to be falling, the defense on the inside will have to get up under the offensive player and they'll have to be the aggressor. As long as Auburn gets all of this right they could be looking at the biggest upset in their program's history.
Pat's Picks
KT Harrell- Would it be human to pick anybody else except the senior who realizes that every game could be his last in an Auburn jersey. He'll be even more fired up to know that he's wearing that jersey at least one more time to try to beat the best team in the land.
Karl-Anthony Towns- Towns managed himself a double-double against Florida and will now be going up against players no bigger than 6-8. Towns just needs to get in a good position and he'll be able to score at will. It will be an assault of bigs from Kentucky in this game.