Kentucky @ Auburn preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 31, 2019 ) Auburn 77, Kentucky 71

Auburn coach Bruce Pearl should repeatedly remind his team that Saturday's SEC showdown with visiting Kentucky tips off at 5 p.m. local time. The 16th-ranked Tigers have endured some slow starts - most recently trailing 15-2 and by as many as 19 before rallying for an 83-82 double overtime victory at Ole Miss on Tuesday - and cannot afford to fall behind a quality team such as the No. 13 Wildcats.

Pearl mulled a change in the starting lineup of Samir Doughty, J'Von McCormick, Isaac Okoro, Danjel Purifoy and Austin Wiley but decided against it, telling reporters: “I just don’t think it’s the right thing to do. I don’t have an answer to why we’re not starting better. I don’t know why that combination of our players are struggling.” Kentucky is second in the SEC - one game behind LSU and one in front of Auburn - after defeating Vanderbilt 71-62 on Wednesday for its fourth straight victory, and will have revenge on its mind Saturday. The Tigers ousted the Wildcats 77-71 in overtime in the 2019 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight to earn their first trip to the Final Four - a place Kentucky has been 17 times. Five of the nine Wildcats who played in that game are gone, but sophomore guard Ashton Hagans is back, telling reporters about the loss: "It’s actually been in the back of my head a lot.”

TIME: 6 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN

ABOUT KENTUCKY (16-4, 6-1 SEC): Hagans (13.2 points per game) has recorded at least five assists in 17 straight contests - the longest run by a Wildcat since Tyler Ulis in 2015-16 - and is seventh nationally at 7.2 per game. Nick Richards paces the team in scoring (14.4), rebounds (8.3) and blocks (2.4), producing double-doubles in his last two contests and scoring in double figures in nine straight. Immanuel Quickley is averaging 16.9 points over his last nine games, raising his season number to 13.8.

ABOUT AUBURN (18-2, 5-2): Doughty produces a team-best 14.8 points after scoring 35 over the last two games and leads the club with 15 double-figure contests. Wiley averages 10.1 points and 9.2 rebounds - 9.1 and 8.6 in SEC games - while freshman Okoro (13 points per game) matched a career high with nine boards against Ole Miss and has scored 33 points over the past two contests. McCormick averages 11.1 points and a team-high 4.7 assists but only averages three helpers per SEC game.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. The Tigers, who have won 14 straight at home, yield 68.6 points per game and have held every opponent under its average this season in regulation.

2. Kentucky F Nate Sestina, who averages 6.6 points, is 12 shy of 1,000.

3. Auburn has won three of the last six meetings since snapping an 18-game series slide.

PREDICTION: Kentucky 68, Auburn 67