It was a sell out crowd. The student body were ready to take on a ring of gladiators.
The university posthumously retired Mike Mitchell’s jersey. He played decades ago, but remains the leading rebounder and second leading scorer in team history.
Gus Malzahn, the new head football coach delivered pizzas and energy drinks to the students who’d lined up hours before the game and only littered some after their impromptu snack. Malzahn spoke at the half, making 9,000 people in the building wish it was April already.
Charles Barkley spoke to the audience, welcomed Kentucky, called Auburn a nation and then, later, went on television and said this:
But the big event was the game itself. A plucky Auburn team who managed to win their first two games in conference play and then lost on the road at the end of two overtimes against Arkansas was on this night hosting defending national champion Kentucky. But this Kentucky team is not the Kentucky of old. Oh, they are loaded, but the conventional wisdom is that they aren’t playing up to their ability.
So naturally they put it all together tonight. Auburn got caught looking at the royal Kentucky blue and suffered their biggest home loss in the Tony Barbee era as they shot 35 percent from the field and went 0-15 on three-point attempts.
So it was a tough night for basketball, but they often are.
But we had fun:
Several friends were in town from Birmingham for the game. We caught up, told jokes, made fun of basketball, made fun of people staggering around. Had a lovely time.
