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Postgame Pod: Auburn defeats Kentucky 75-74 · The Auburn Undercover Podcast

• 0:07
  Welcome back everybody here to the post
• 0:09
  game pod at Auburn Undercover. Nathan
• 0:11
  King joined by Patrick Bingham. It is
• 0:14
  midnight here in Neville Arena and uh
• 0:16
  they're still cleaning up after the
• 0:17
  game. So, we decided to come in here in
• 0:18
  the lobby where we've got the nice
• 0:20
  trophies behind us here in the
• 0:21
  scholarship center where it's uh it's a
• 0:23
  little bit quieter and uh just a few
• 0:25
  hours ago, Patrick, it was uh it was it
• 0:27
  was not quiet that long. It was not uh
• 0:29
  it was not at all, you know, a normal
• 0:32
  finish. It was a very very dramatic way
• 0:34
  for Auburn to ultimately get off the
• 0:37
  Schneider here and break a fivegame
• 0:39
  losing streak in in wild fashion. Uh
• 0:42
  Elijah Freeman's go-ahead basket with
• 0:44
  1.2 seconds left. Lifts the Tigers to a
• 0:47
  75 to 74 win over Kentucky. Patrick,
• 0:50
  this is a game that Auburn absolutely
• 0:52
  had to have or they felt like they had
• 0:54
  to have really, you know, more so, you
• 0:56
  know, obviously the NCAA tournament
• 0:57
  implications are are one thing, but this
• 0:59
  is a team that just needed to taste
• 1:01
  victory again. And you could almost see
• 1:03
  that from our our buddy Jeff Sheerer
• 1:06
  from Auburn Athletics just posted a
• 1:07
  video from the student section, but like
• 1:09
  the student who's who's in front of
• 1:11
  whoever has that video like just throws
• 1:12
  both his hands up in the air almost just
• 1:14
  like a hallelujah. Like you could see
• 1:16
  that from the players after the game,
• 1:17
  Patrick. This is this is one where
• 1:19
  everyone in this building, however,
• 1:21
  whatever means you could get it, this
• 1:23
  was a very cathartic win that Auburn
• 1:25
  really needed tonight.
• 1:26
  >> Yeah. I mean, obviously like in the
• 1:28
  moment, you just had to win regardless
• 1:29
  of who the opponent was. It was the same
• 1:31
  thing with um earlier this week at
• 1:32
  Mississippi State, you just had to break
• 1:34
  that skid. You needed to get a win and
• 1:37
  stop that. But I think almost like
• 1:38
  bigger picture for just even like SEC
• 1:41
  play, like think of how it started. You
• 1:43
  make the crazy shot against Georgia, but
• 1:44
  you lose in overtime. Then you have the
• 1:46
  very bizarre ending against Texas A&M.
• 1:48
  And I mean, Stephen said it earlier or
• 1:50
  for the like preview press conference
• 1:52
  for this game. He's like, I don't want
• 1:53
  to say the C-word, but we're right
• 1:55
  there. And they have been. And and in so
• 1:58
  many of these close moments when the
• 2:00
  other team makes a big shot with a
• 2:02
  minute to go, they can't replicate that.
• 2:06
  And tonight, um, Kentucky did. And I
• 2:08
  mean Kentucky went up three and it was
• 2:10
  like oh well that might be it with a
• 2:12
  minute left and then Auburn found a way.
• 2:15
  They were able to get to the uh free
• 2:16
  throw line and I mean they were able to
• 2:19
  make the plays at the end to win the
• 2:20
  game.
• 2:20
  >> Yeah, we almost saw both tonight, right?
• 2:22
  We almost saw them well we did see them
• 2:24
  you know honestly collapse at the end
• 2:26
  and and and lose a late lead. Um but at
• 2:29
  the same time they also made the winning
• 2:31
  plays when they needed to and got a got
• 2:33
  a key turnover at the end of the game
• 2:34
  with an offensive foul on Kentucky. It
• 2:36
  was almost kind of a mirror image of
• 2:38
  what happened to Mississippi State. You
• 2:39
  were up by seven with four minutes to go
• 2:41
  in that game. You're up by six with 335
• 2:43
  to go in this game. And then Auburn had
• 2:45
  three turnovers in the final 213 of the
• 2:48
  game. Uh they gave up backto-back
• 2:50
  triples and then one of those turnovers
• 2:52
  was uh was just an open floor dunk by
• 2:54
  Otega Oay that gave Kentucky the lead.
• 2:56
  Auburn came back down and missed and
• 2:57
  then it it felt like it was pretty much
• 2:59
  over at that point. I mean obviously
• 3:01
  this is why you foul. This is why you
• 3:03
  extend basketball games because you the
• 3:05
  more possessions, the more opportunities
• 3:06
  you have.
• 3:07
  >> Ends up being an offensive foul. Um,
• 3:09
  just a pushoff on on Kucky's Colin
• 3:11
  Chandler, which Mark Pope, Kucky's head
• 3:14
  coach, had some words about. You can go
• 3:16
  check that out on our on our YouTube
• 3:17
  channel. And then if you go to Twitter,
• 3:19
  you can find the some other words
• 3:20
  >> some other words he he had to say very
• 3:22
  blatantly um about the officiating
• 3:24
  there. But um, of course, credit to
• 3:26
  Auburn for taking advantage of their
• 3:27
  opportunity at the end. It would have
• 3:30
  been there there there were a lot of
• 3:32
  things that would have been fitting. Um
• 3:34
  it would have been fitting of course if
• 3:36
  if Auburn had lost this game with a miss
• 3:39
  with a miss right at the basket
• 3:40
  >> because they were so bad in this game
• 3:42
  finishing around the rim. Kesha Murphy
• 3:44
  gets a gets a point blank layup and he
• 3:46
  said it after the game he's like I don't
• 3:47
  know why I didn't dunk it like and and
• 3:49
  when you look back you're like yeah man
• 3:50
  I don't know either there's there's
• 3:51
  nobody in front of him but in that
• 3:52
  moment you're just trying to obviously
• 3:54
  >> kiss it off the glass and then Elisha
• 3:55
  Freeman comes up
• 3:56
  >> with a huge play there um at the end of
• 3:59
  the game but Keshan Murphy was
• 4:00
  absolutely phenomenal another career
• 4:02
  game for him it was just a few games it
• 4:04
  was Arkansas where he had a career-high
• 4:05
  22 points now he has surpassed that um
• 4:07
  with 25 with 25 points he was easily the
• 4:10
  best player for Auburn in this game.
• 4:11
  Yeah, and he said he uh postgame he
• 4:14
  wasn't pleased with how he played at
• 4:15
  Mississippi State going back to the old
• 4:17
  school and to turn around and do that
• 4:19
  tonight. And I mean I'd like to know of
• 4:21
  the layups Auburn made, he had to have
• 4:24
  made almost all of them. Um and he had a
• 4:27
  big three that really kind of stopped an
• 4:30
  initial Kentucky push to regain the
• 4:32
  lead. Of course, they ultimately did.
• 4:34
  And um I mean, yes, he was fantastic
• 4:37
  tonight.
• 4:37
  >> Yeah, Murphy made a three from the top
• 4:38
  of the K. I don't know what his off off
• 4:40
  top of my head, I don't know his
• 4:41
  percentage or how many he's made this
• 4:42
  year. He's made a few of them. He's had
• 4:44
  open looks um from the top of the key,
• 4:46
  but he's not been obviously he's not a
• 4:47
  guy that's going to take that shot all
• 4:49
  the time, but he felt confident. And
• 4:50
  then Elijah Freeman, um a really a
• 4:52
  really nice game for him um today. He
• 4:54
  was the most important statistic for
• 4:56
  him. He's plus 10 in the box score in a
• 4:59
  one-point game. He was just making plays
• 5:01
  >> all over the place. Uh Keshan Hall
• 5:03
  shoots really really poorly in this
• 5:05
  game. This is not an offensive
• 5:06
  performance to remember for him, but um
• 5:08
  I thought not only all the assists he
• 5:10
  was able to rack up, I think he had five
• 5:12
  assists in this game. Um bunch of big
• 5:13
  defensive rebounds, but we saw a lot of
• 5:15
  hustle from him. Um
• 5:16
  >> he had eight or nine rebounds as well.
• 5:19
  >> Yeah. And and it was his ability to kind
• 5:20
  of he he looked more engaged
• 5:22
  defensively. Um and obviously, you know,
• 5:24
  after a couple games ago, he didn't
• 5:25
  play. Um and obviously there was kind of
• 5:27
  that back and forth and it stemmed from
• 5:28
  his defense in that Vanderbilt game.
• 5:30
  That's something you like to see is for
• 5:31
  him to be to be trending in the right
• 5:33
  direction. Um, but yeah, I mean, Murphy
• 5:35
  has that three at the end of the toward
• 5:37
  the end of the game to tie it up and
• 5:38
  then Auburn, you know, has the turnovers
• 5:39
  and then is able to get the shot from
• 5:41
  Freeman. But even toward the end, even
• 5:42
  at the very end with 1.2 seconds
• 5:44
  remaining, um, it's not like the game
• 5:46
  was over. Kentucky had that heave. I
• 5:48
  looked it up because Stephen talked
• 5:49
  about it
• 5:50
  >> after the game, I don't know if you
• 5:51
  remember, Kentucky beat LSU earlier in
• 5:53
  the season. It was 1.6 seconds left in
• 5:56
  that game. Same exact thing. They heaved
• 5:58
  it to Moreno. He caught it and turned
• 6:00
  around and hit a hit a jumper in that
• 6:02
  game. They won that game 75 to74, which
• 6:04
  is the exact score that Auburn won
• 6:06
  tonight. So, it's not as if that was an
• 6:07
  impossible play. Auburn knew it was
• 6:08
  coming. Kesha Murphy gets a hand on it
• 6:10
  and then Mareno kind of bobbles it and
• 6:12
  it was like he had no time um to get it
• 6:14
  back up. But Patrick, this was a this is
• 6:15
  obviously a huge win for this team. Like
• 6:17
  you mentioned, not just because of the
• 6:19
  name, not because of Kentucky. I know a
• 6:21
  lot of people, you know, KY's not
• 6:22
  everybody's Super Bowl. If if this was
• 6:24
  >> the Super Bowl. Yes. If this was the
• 6:27
  Alabama game, if this was Texas A&M, it
• 6:30
  didn't matter who was coming. Now, it
• 6:32
  helps that Kentucky will probably end up
• 6:34
  being a quad win, quad one win for you.
• 6:36
  Um, but Stephen said it after the game,
• 6:38
  like this is as big of a result as this
• 6:41
  is, it doesn't mean anything if you
• 6:43
  can't close out the season and and and
• 6:45
  try to finish there maybe two or three
• 6:46
  more wins away from being a tournament
• 6:48
  team.
• 6:48
  >> Yeah. And it this was a big one. You
• 6:51
  kind of get over the emotional hump. You
• 6:54
  on like several different levels like
• 6:55
  we've talked about and now it's can you
• 6:57
  go win at Oklahoma? Because any of these
• 6:59
  next ones, what's it? Oklahoma, Miss,
• 7:02
  LSU, and then Bama to end. It's like of
• 7:04
  those next three, those are three really
• 7:06
  getable games for you.
• 7:07
  >> You're better than every one of those
• 7:08
  teams. Matter whether you can do it.
• 7:10
  >> Yeah. And it's like if you can have that
• 7:12
  win streak going into Tuscaloosa, that's
• 7:13
  going to be a hard game to pull off. But
• 7:15
  just going into the tournament and going
• 7:17
  into March in general, like this could
• 7:19
  be such a boost for you after what
• 7:20
  you've done the last five games.
• 7:21
  >> This, we talked about it this week. This
• 7:23
  spot reminded me at least of the 2022 23
• 7:28
  season. There were a couple games like
• 7:29
  this at Neville Arena that year. They
• 7:31
  hosted a good Missouri team. I don't
• 7:33
  remember if Missouri was ranked, but
• 7:34
  that was like uh year two under Dennis
• 7:36
  Gates. They they were playing a lot
• 7:38
  better. That was a game where it was
• 7:39
  like you felt like Auburn was teetering.
• 7:42
  They blew the doors off Missouri. Last
• 7:43
  day of the regular season against
• 7:45
  Tennessee, it felt like if you didn't
• 7:46
  play in that game, people were like,
• 7:48
  "Okay, they're going to be a first four
• 7:49
  team if they don't win that game." Yeah,
• 7:51
  >> that was the quad one win that you
• 7:52
  >> they ended up getting the quad one win.
• 7:54
  Same sort of feeling of this one where
• 7:55
  it's like
• 7:56
  >> maybe at the will, you know, what will
• 7:59
  the results actually be? We won't know
• 8:00
  until selection Sunday, but it's like
• 8:01
  you would feel a lot better if you were
• 8:03
  to get this one. Auburn responds in
• 8:05
  front of its uh in front of its home
• 8:06
  crowd and and one of the best crowds of
• 8:07
  the season. We mentioned a couple weeks
• 8:08
  ago in the show, I think after the
• 8:09
  Alabama game, it's like they need to
• 8:11
  have a really good crowd in a couple
• 8:12
  weeks. They can't they can't give up on
• 8:14
  this team and obviously they haven't
• 8:15
  done that.
• 8:16
  has complimented them every every game
• 8:18
  about how good they've been. And it was
• 8:19
  a great crowd here tonight. Patrick, you
• 8:20
  have a couple interesting stats on
• 8:23
  >> on this game that I thought would be uh
• 8:25
  would be good for our listeners to uh to
• 8:28
  hear particularly about Steven Pearl and
• 8:29
  about Kentucky and about uh about what
• 8:31
  they accomplish.
• 8:32
  >> So, one of them so Auburn since Bruce
• 8:34
  Pearl in his second season got the first
• 8:36
  big win over Kentucky. Um Auburn is
• 8:39
  which was in 2016. Auburn's eight and
• 8:41
  seven against Kentucky including like
• 8:44
  tournament games, whatever. Um, so
• 8:47
  that's obviously you're have a winning
• 8:49
  record to go back to get the next eight
• 8:51
  below that. So the eight prior wins for
• 8:54
  Auburn against Kentucky basically before
• 8:56
  Bruce Pearl, you have to go all the way
• 8:58
  back to 1983. So it's
• 9:00
  >> it took a while
• 9:01
  >> and they only have I believe it's 24
• 9:03
  wins total against Yeah. against
• 9:06
  Kentucky. And so still it's Sorry, I'm
• 9:08
  trying to pull up the other one. it it's
• 9:09
  still a rare thing even though I know it
• 9:12
  the whole Kentucky thing. Um the other
• 9:14
  one is um Steven Pearl is just the third
• 9:16
  Auburn head coach to defeat Kentucky in
• 9:18
  his first season joining Tommy Joe
• 9:20
  Eagles who did it in 1990 and Bob Davis
• 9:22
  who did it in 1974 ever to win in the
• 9:25
  first one. One of those was in their
• 9:26
  second game against Kentucky. I guess
• 9:28
  Auburn played them twice that year, but
• 9:30
  um all three of those were at home.
• 9:31
  >> Yeah. And and uh Mark Pope is now the
• 9:34
  first Kentucky coach as well to uh to
• 9:37
  lose his first two games. um to Auburn.
• 9:39
  And so obviously an extremely important
• 9:42
  result again regard I know we've kind of
• 9:43
  brought up Kentucky a bunch but
• 9:45
  regardless of who you who you played
• 9:46
  today um you get back in in the win
• 9:49
  column and this was Steam Pearl said it
• 9:51
  after the game you know he he hasn't
• 9:52
  wanted to say that this team has been
• 9:54
  unlucky but it's like you point to some
• 9:56
  of the teams they've had to play and
• 9:58
  then finally when they played somebody a
• 10:00
  little bit lower in the standings Josh
• 10:02
  Hubard goes for 46 and then he said when
• 10:04
  he what did Hubard shoot four of 20 or
• 10:06
  something like that today? days like
• 10:07
  when I saw that I almost threw up like
• 10:09
  had the game right after they play
• 10:10
  Auburn. So I know that look and Auburn
• 10:13
  was lucky to get that call at the end.
• 10:15
  They absolutely were. I mean that was
• 10:17
  not an egregious pushoff by any means. I
• 10:19
  think it was a pushoff but it's like
• 10:20
  I've seen a lot of people saying you
• 10:21
  don't call that in a lot of points of
• 10:23
  the game and I I agree. I don't think
• 10:25
  you do. But it was finally time for
• 10:27
  Auburn to be on the end of that
• 10:29
  >> big picture but also not to complain
• 10:31
  about the officials. There were two
• 10:32
  calls in the first half. The biggest one
• 10:34
  was against Ahad Pedifford when they
• 10:37
  were shooting the three and I mean props
• 10:39
  to my friends at Wargo Productions
• 10:40
  because they just kept showing the
• 10:42
  replay on the video board from like all
• 10:43
  four different angle. I mean they're
• 10:45
  milking it. Shout out Jake Mace. And I
• 10:47
  mean just he did not touch him and the
• 10:50
  place erupted. And then there was a
• 10:51
  similar call a few minutes later and the
• 10:53
  place was really upset. And so it again
• 10:57
  crowd
• 10:57
  >> I don't want to be like Texas&M's coach
• 10:59
  and call it a makeup call but it it
• 11:02
  Auburn to some extent deserved it at the
• 11:04
  end.
• 11:04
  >> I think you know and I was thinking
• 11:06
  about this too. How and Kesha Murphy
• 11:08
  again at the end of the game it's like
• 11:10
  you mentioned the Texas A&M heave that
• 11:12
  he had that went in. It's like I would
• 11:14
  have felt so bad for him if he had
• 11:15
  missed that shot at the end and they had
• 11:17
  lost this game cuz it's like two end of
• 11:19
  game situations where you should have
• 11:21
  had it and you didn't. Obviously Elijah
• 11:23
  Freeman um you know makes up for it and
• 11:26
  and saves him and maybe saves Auburn's
• 11:28
  um season. But yeah, I mean the the only
• 11:30
  thing I could see about the Pedford play
• 11:32
  was like you know you're supposed to
• 11:34
  have a space for a three-point shooter
• 11:36
  and maybe he was already in his space.
• 11:37
  The problem is I think they whistled it
• 11:40
  before they saw if there was contact.
• 11:41
  They they was like, "Oh, you're in a
• 11:43
  space." And then when he came down,
• 11:44
  there's no contact. You'd already blown
• 11:45
  the uh you'd already blown the whistle.
• 11:47
  We also had more between free throw
• 11:50
  reviews than I've ever seen in a
• 11:52
  basketball game.
• 11:53
  >> And I don't know if anything changed in
• 11:54
  any of them. Strange.
• 11:56
  >> They were reviewing again hot crowd. It
• 11:59
  was a good crowd tonight and they were
• 12:01
  furious with that. But Keshan Murphy was
• 12:03
  shooting two free throws and they uh
• 12:04
  they check in the mi he he makes the
• 12:06
  first and they're like, "We're going to
• 12:07
  go see make sure that foul was correct."
• 12:09
  It's like in the middle of the you're
• 12:11
  icing the free throw shooter and then
• 12:13
  late in the game uh when Pedifer went to
• 12:15
  the line. By the way, a couple big free
• 12:16
  throws when he just gets fouled on
• 12:17
  shooting foul late in the game. Um he
• 12:19
  needed to make those. Makes his first
• 12:21
  >> and they there's a bunch of deliberation
• 12:23
  about something about who's coming on
• 12:24
  the court, where they're standing. It
• 12:25
  takes like 45 seconds and Todd Pedford's
• 12:28
  like, "Can I shoot my second free
• 12:29
  throw?" Oh man, it was a it was
• 12:31
  definitely and and you also had the
• 12:33
  element that I always think is fun,
• 12:34
  Patrick, is the uh how well Kentucky
• 12:36
  fans travel and and
• 12:38
  >> there's definitely a little cheer every
• 12:39
  time they score
• 12:40
  >> and well and it's and it's and it
• 12:41
  creates a really good environment and so
• 12:43
  >> look Pearl said it after the game there
• 12:44
  were lots of highs and lows in this one
• 12:46
  and Auburn battled through them and at
• 12:48
  the end of the day they get a win
• 12:49
  >> and that's it and just to the free throw
• 12:51
  thing and Auburn shot I think 20 for 24
• 12:53
  from the charity stripe and it's like
• 12:55
  those are the things you need to do to
• 12:57
  continue to stay in the game and we've
• 12:58
  seen in other really close results them
• 13:01
  not be able to pay that off and I think
• 13:03
  Auburn was nine for nine from the free
• 13:05
  throw line before Kentucky got one.
• 13:07
  Auburn really didn't foul a ton in this
• 13:09
  game. No, they didn't.
• 13:09
  >> Um
• 13:10
  >> but yeah, I mean they they were able
• 13:12
  just to continue to make the plays to
• 13:14
  put themselves in position to win.
• 13:16
  >> This to me didn't look like a very, you
• 13:18
  know, it's not like wow, Auburn's
• 13:20
  figured it out and they're clicking.
• 13:21
  It's like this is the same team we've
• 13:23
  known. It's just finally they were able
• 13:25
  to get something to go their way and and
• 13:27
  maybe you needed that extra push at
• 13:29
  >> and like the again there's still so much
• 13:31
  to like the layups you could certainly
• 13:33
  improve in that aspect. There's others
• 13:35
  but um again it's the the only thing
• 13:38
  that really mattered tonight was did you
• 13:40
  win the game or not and they were able
• 13:41
  to say they did.
• 13:42
  >> Yeah, absolutely. And they're they're
• 13:43
  back in the win column moving to
• 13:45
  Oklahoma on uh it's a quick turnaround
• 13:47
  on Tuesday. It's going to be that that's
• 13:49
  another important game. We'll see if
• 13:50
  Kentucky squad won tomorrow. It's
• 13:52
  interesting. I think they were 29th
• 13:54
  going into today. They've got to stay a
• 13:55
  top 30 team in the net um in order to be
• 13:57
  a uh in order to be a quad one game.
• 13:59
  Oklahoma I believe is still going to be
• 14:01
  quad one um since that's a road game.
• 14:03
  And then like Patrick mentioned you get
• 14:05
  a couple home games against two of the
• 14:07
  war I mean is playing terribly and LSU
• 14:09
  is just not very good. You should beat
• 14:11
  both those teams at home before the
• 14:12
  finale at at Alabama. So obviously this
• 14:14
  Auburn hopes represents a uh a chance
• 14:16
  for them to get back on the right path
• 14:19
  and uh end the season. maybe not, you
• 14:20
  know, not with a winning streak, but,
• 14:22
  you know, with a with a with a cluster
• 14:24
  of wins um before the SEC tournament.
• 14:26
  So, 75 to 74, Elijah Freeman's late
• 14:29
  basket puts Auburn over the top against
• 14:31
  Kentucky for Patrick Bingham. I'm Nathan
• 14:33
  King. Be sure to head over to auburn
• 14:35
  undercover.com. Tons of coverage of this
• 14:37
  game, of course, uh postgame interviews.
• 14:38
  Patrick's got them on the YouTube
• 14:39
  channel with with Stephen Pearl, Mark
• 14:41
  Pope, Elijah Freeman, and uh and Kesha
• 14:43
  Murphy. And, uh until next time on the
• 14:45
  postgame pod, we'll talk to you'all
• 14:46
  later. Thanks for joining.