3 takeaways from win over UK

[aubiefifty 18,231]

al.com

3 takeaways from Auburn's win over Kentucky

By Giana Han

7-9 minutes

Standing on the sideline as the first half clock wound down, coach Bruce Pearl shouted “SHOOT. THE. BALL!”

It was the culmination of a first half against Kentucky where Auburn passed up shot after shot before settling for a difficult look when time ran out. But even when Auburn did shoot the ball, things didn’t look much better. The Tigers finished the first half shooting 24.2 percent from the field, missing 25 shots.

Kentucky also struggled to get the ball in the hoop, but it finished with a higher shooting percentage from both the field and the free throw line, helping it to go into the half ahead 25-21.

Standing on the sidelines watching his team’s first offensive possession of the second half, Pearl yelled “SHOOT THE BALL” after his players passed the ball out instead of looking to the hoop while in the paint.

This time, it sunk in. Auburn started taking its open shots, and they actually started falling. By shooting from both outside and inside the arc, it made the offense multidimensional.

Defensively, Auburn’s frantic energy of the first half turned into focused energy, and it started coming away with more steals and forced turnovers. Combined with better shooting as well as dominant rebounding, Auburn erased the deficit and then built a lead.

In the final seconds of the game, Auburn failed to get the defensive stops it needed to put the game out of reach. But it made its foul shots to close out the game, which helped preserve its lead.

“Both teams played really hard,” Pearl said. “And offense was difficult this afternoon.”

Led by Allen Flanigan (21 points), Devan Cambridge (13) and Sharife Cooper (11), Auburn took down Kentucky 66-59 for its second SEC win of the year. Below are three takeaways from the game:

Back to three-pointers

After two games where Auburn proved it could play without relying on its three ball, it reverted back to sticking to outside looks. It started out its game throwing up threes, taking 17 of its 33 shots from beyond the arc.

Over and over, Auburn would drive to the hoop and then kick it out for a three. Even when players had an open look inside, they would often pump fake and then have to settle for a tougher shot. As a result, 15 of those 17 three-point shots were misses.

Cooper, specifically, was insistent on shooting threes. Four of his eight shots in the first half were three-pointers. Even though he didn’t make a single one, he continued to try. As a result, his only points in the first half were from the free throw line. He came out in the second half and tried one more time before sticking to two’s. Despite his performance outside, Pearl assured people that Cooper can shoot the three ball and opponents will have to look out for that in the future.

Jamal Johnson also shot 0-4 from three in the first half. However, he had gone 2-7 rather than 0-8 like Cooper. Only Flanigan and Cambridge made a three-pointer in the first.

However, a pair of threes in the second half got Auburn back into it. First Williams and then Cambridge hit threes on back-to-back possessions, which tied the game at 39.

Auburn backed off and only shot seven threes in the second half, though, which helped make the offense more dynamic. As the Tigers took more inside looks, they forced the Wildcats to adjust and ended up drawing 13 fouls in the process.

Second half Flanigan

Through the season, Flanigan has established himself as the most dependable player on Auburn’s roster. Pearl described him as a “workhorse.”

Several times throughout the season, Flanigan has held together his team as it struggles to find its rhythm through the first half. He helped do this against Kentucky with a team-high five points. Against Georgia and Alabama, he helped with seven points and 11 points respectively.

But this game, Flanigan backed up his solid first-half performance with an outstanding second-half performance. As his team’s offense started to click, Flanigan took advantage. In the second half, he had three times the amount of points he had in the first half, which quadrupled his production. He scored 16 second-half points.

Flanigan said that he knew heading into the second half it was going to be a tough, physical end to the game and that Auburn would have to attack the glass. And he also knew that suits his body and style of play, so he took the responsibility and went to the basket. Cambridge said Flanigan knew Kentucky wouldn’t just back down because he was going hard, but that didn’t stop him.

“That’s his play style — getting downhill, playing aggressive,” Cambridge said. “That’s what he loves to do.”

One of Flanigan’s strongest points has been his defense, and that remained strong against Kentucky. He kept with his defenders while committing just two fouls. He finished with nine rebounds, six of which he picked up in the second half. His ninth rebound came in the final seconds of the game. Flanigan went flying in to grab Kentucky’s rebound, forcing Kentucky to foul to stop the clock. He then hit both his foul shots to help put the game out of reach.

“Allen Flanigan was a man out there in every which way,” Pearl said. “Rebounding, defensively, just attacking the rim, using his physicality. Willingness to take big shots. 8-for-8 from the foul. Talk about a warrior.”

Flanigan finished the game with 21 points, nine rebounds and an assist.

Cooper’s court vision

Cooper’s ability to see the court is like his superpower. It was the most impressive thing about his third college game, where he finished with less than half the number of points he had in his first two games but still was a significant factor to Auburn’s success.

Once again, Cooper had a couple of assists on alley-oop dunks. On a particularly impressive play, he received the short pass from JT Thor after an offensive rebound and immediately tossed it up for Dylan Cardwell, who he somehow saw was coming in below the basket. He also connected with Cambridge multiple times, like he has in past games. That’s a relationship that could be powerful for Auburn as it continues to grow.

“Sharife’s at the point, he’s always going to find me,” Cambridge said.

As Cooper took the ball up, he also helped get his teammates in position, pointing them to the correct spot on the court. He could have had several more assists if his teammates would have taken the shots he opened up for them. As it was, he still ended with eight assists.

“I’m gonna put the ball in his hands and he’s gonna run the show,” Pearl said. “And he’s gonna get us shots, he’s gonna score himself.”

In the previous games, Cooper had impressive performances but still pointed out ways he could be better. He struggled with turnovers, which he cleaned up a bit in this game. But he continued to have problems holding onto the ball in traffic. Too many times, he lost his dribble. Once it catches up with him, he’ll be even more dangerous.

In a change from previous games, Cooper showed a tendency to shoot the outside shot rather than to drive. That meant Kentucky stopped crashing as much when he did penetrate the paint. And since Cooper went 0-5 from beyond the arc, that didn’t help Auburn very much.

Cooper wasn’t alone in the fruitless three-point shooting at the beginning of the game, though, and he adjusted as the game went on. When he finally started driving and drawing fouls towards the end of the first half, it made a difference as defenders once again started committing to stopping him. By the end of the game, Cooper drew nine fouls.

[aubiefifty 18,231]

i want to say here that coop pretty much took an azz whuppin on the court yesterday. how many times did they knock him down or around? the man is a warrior in my eyes. i think he needs more time maybe for strength and conditioning training so he is ready for the beating he will probably endure in pro ball. am i wrong in this? i realize he might not be in great playing shape because of the ncaa so i am certainly not downing him. it sure seemed like kentucky tried to dominate him physically and maybe i am looking through auburn eyes but it seemed to be excessive to me. again, am i wrong?