Isaiah Jackson scored 18 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked two shots to help Kentucky rally for an 82-80 win over Auburn on Saturday in Southeastern Conference action in Lexington, Ky.
Jackson's rejection of Sharife Cooper's drive to the hoop with 25 seconds left helped put the game away for the Wildcats (6-13, 5-7 SEC), who snapped a four-game losing streak.
Brandon Boston Jr. had 17 points, four steals and three assists and Keion Brooks Jr. added 12 points, five rebounds and four assists off the bench for Kentucky. Kentucky's reserves outscored Auburn's bench 20-8.
Auburn (11-11, 5-8) led by as many as nine points in the first half but gave up 52 points in the second half as Kentucky avoided what would have been its first three-game losing streak in the history of Rupp Arena.
The Tigers lost their 19th consecutive game at Kentucky.
Kentucky led 72-60 with 5:38 left, but Auburn put together a 13-3 run to put themselves within a basket.
The Tigers tied it on Allen Flanigan's layup finishing a fast break, created by a turnover by Davion Mintz with 47.1 seconds left. But Mintz answered at the other end with a 3-pointer that put Kentucky ahead for good.
After making 14 of 26 triples in a loss to Arkansas on Tuesday, the Wildcats followed with another strong shooting performance from long distance (11 of 24) on Saturday.
JT Thor made 5 of 6 shots from 3-point range to help the Tigers narrow the gap and finished with a game-high 24 points.
Flanigan totaled 23 points and five rebounds and Cooper finished with 14 points, eight assists and six rebounds. Auburn also outrebounded Kentucky 44-36.
But Auburn's 17 turnovers led to several easy transition scores for Kentucky, which led by as many as 14 points in the second half.
--Field Level Media
Auburn | Kentucky | |
JT Thor 24 | Scoring | Isaiah Jackson 18 |
Sharife Cooper 8 | Assists | Devin Askew 4 |
JT Thor 9 | Rebounds | Isaiah Jackson 11 |
Allen Flanigan 6 | Free Throws Made | Isaiah Jackson 8 |
Devan Cambridge 2 | Steals | Brandon Boston Jr. 4 |
JT Thor 2 | Blocks | Olivier Sarr 4 |