AUBURN — The emotions ran high late against Kentucky. That wasn't uncommon for Auburn basketball, which has found itself in plenty of close contests this season.
Only this time, the Tigers found themselves on the winning end.
That came to be with 1.2 seconds remaining, as the Tigers had three tries to beat the Wildcats at the buzzer and couldn't find a make until the last of those attempts, as Elyjah Freeman sunk a put-back to secure a 75-74 win against Kentucky on Saturday, Feb. 21, at Neville Arena.
Freeman, in his own words, summed up his last basket briefly, saying, "something good happened."
The first-year Tiger and Division II transfer came through after two different teammates couldn't. A Kevin Overton drive to the bucket was blocked by Kentucky, but KeShawn Murphy came up with an offensive rebound to give Auburn a second attempt. He missed it, putting what could've been a wildly sour note on his career-high 25 points. That is, if it wasn't for Freeman.
"I don't know why I missed that," Murphy said postgame. "It probably just should've been a dunk, but E-Free on the glass saved me, bro. That's what teammates do. That's what we do, man."
Equally miraculous was the sequence that gave Auburn a shot at Freeman's eventual game-winner. After Tahaad Pettiford sunk a pair of free throws to put the Tigers down one, Overton drew an offensive foul on Kentucky's Collin Chandler with 14 seconds to go, something Kentucky head coach Mark Pope clearly took offensive postgame.
"Well, we're not allowed to talk about the referees, but you guys saw it," Pope said to start his postgame press conference. "I think, sometimes, it's just super personal. I'm not allowed to comment on the referees. I won't comment on the referees."
Only Pope did, just not on the podium. He was caught on a hot mic leaving his availability, telling Kentucky athletics director Mitch Barnhart, "if those MFers try to fine me, screw them, because I did not say a word about how they cheated us."
— No Context College Basketball (@ContextFreeCBB) February 22, 2026
The end of Auburn's postgame availability was certainly more positive. When Murphy and Freeman left the podium, their last words came from the former, who said four words to his teammate.
"You saved my a**."
Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at [email protected] or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @colereporter.To support Adam's work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn basketball reacts to dramatic finish against Kentucky