Auburn Tigers vs Kentucky Wildcats Box Score on Feb 23, 2019

PJ Washington scored 24 points and No. 4 Kentucky's defense stifled Auburn in the Wildcats' 80-53 SEC victory Saturday afternoon at Lexington, Ky.

Tyler Herro added 17 points and Ashton Hagans had 14 for the Wildcats (23-4, 12-2 SEC).

Kentucky was playing its first game without starting forward Reid Travis, who is expected to miss a couple of weeks because of a sprained knee he sustained during a 66-58 victory at Missouri on Tuesday.

Chuma Okeke scored 14, Jared Harper added 12 and Anfernee McLemore had 10 to lead the Tigers (18-9, 7-7), who scored just 22 points in the second half.

Auburn, which made 17 3-pointers -- its second-most this season -- in a 79-56 victory against Arkansas on Wednesday, made just 8 of 27 against Kentucky. It shot just 32.8 percent from the field.

Kentucky shot 54.5 percent from the field and was 11 of 24 on 3-pointers. The Wildcats have won 13 of their past 14 games.

The Wildcats had a much easier time with the Tigers at home than they had in an 82-80 victory at Auburn five weeks ago. Since the first meeting, the Tigers have gone 5-6.

Kentucky led by 14 at halftime and took command early in the second half.

Hagans scored five points and Washington had four as the Wildcats began the half with an 11-0 run.

Austin Wiley finally ended Auburn's scoring drought with a layup more than four minutes into the half, but the Wildcats were comfortably in front at 56-33. They led by as many as 33 points.

Washington scored 11 of the Wildcats' points as they opened a 13-6 lead.

The Tigers closed within 16-12, but Kentucky rebuilt the lead as Herro's layup gave it a 25-15 lead.

The Wildcats took their biggest lead of the half at 36-17 after Herro made a 3-pointer.

Auburn made another push and got within 38-31 after Brown made a 3-pointer, but the Wildcats scored the final seven points of the half.

--Field Level Media