The Pinkie Previews: Kentucky Wildcats (17-0, 2-0) at Auburn Tigers (9-8, 0-2)

First off, when you think of Auburn you should think Florida with much less talent. They are small, they do not have much presence underneath, and they shoot way too many threes despite their inability to knock them down.

In their last game against Tennessee they jumped out to a 34-22 lead because Tennessee refused to play any perimeter defense. That lack of perimeter defense allowed the Tigers to knock down 10 three pointers in the first half to claim that lead.

However, the Vols decided to play defense with about six minutes left in the half and shut down the Tigers. Instead of adjusting, Auburn continued to shoot contested threes and Tennessee got right back in the game. Ultimately, Tennessee took the lead going into the half, 38-37, and then rolled in the second half to a 81-55 victory.

On offense, the Tigers are going to run a four-out-one -in set, which means they will surround their one big guy with four guys on the perimeter. Their big underneath, whether it be Johnnie Lett or the emerging Brendon Knox, is mostly used as a screener and is not a threat in the post. The bigs constantly move to the top of the key to create screen and roll action with their guards.

This four-out-one-in set creates drive situations but if defenses limit penetration than the Tigers will quickly settle for jumpers. They have launched 329 three pointers this season but are only shooting 33-percent from deep. When they knock down shots, they are dangerous. When they don’t, they are going to get blown out of the water.

Simply put, if Kentucky guards the perimeter, the Tigers have no chance to pull off the upset.

Because of their quickness and their propensity to shoot outside shots they usually pull in a fair amount of long offensive rebounds. Early, when they had success against Tennessee, the long rebound played a big roll.

On defense, expect them to zone the crap out of Kentucky just as the rest of America is doing. They absolutely do not have anything close to the size necessary underneath, so look for Patrick Patterson, DeMarcus Cousins and Daniel Orton to have a field day. Look for Auburn to trap periodically in their half court set in an attempt to create turnovers.

Lucas Hargrove, a 6-6 senior,  leads this Auburn squad and he is a versatile forward who has the ability to score both inside and out. He is third on the team in  scoring with 13.1 ppg and leads them in rebounding with 7.4. He doesn’t do one thing great, but he does a lot of things well. He can shoot the three, put the ball on the floor, penetrate and kick, and plays well definsively.

Their leading scorer is the 6-1 senior Dewayne Reed. Reed is averaging 16.1 ppg and is the teams best penetrator. Also look for Frankie Sullivan, a 6-1 sophomore, to get into the scoring action. Sullivan is averaging 13.6 ppg and is the team’s best rebounding guard, averaging nearly four per game.

Auburn does not have the bodies to match up with Kentucky underneath and the Wildcat guards will not be surprised by their quickness on the perimeter. Kentucky’s defense should be able to limit the Tigers to nothing but perimeter shots and if the shots are contested it should be a long night for Jeff Lebo and his Auburn squad.