All season, Kentucky head coach Mark Pope has praised Brandon Garrison and talked about how high his ceiling is. On Wednesday night, in UK’s 83-82 win over Oklahoma, Garrison showed that potential with one of his best games of the season.

Garrison had 12 points, four rebounds, three steals and two blocks in the victory. He played a key role down the stretch as the Cats pulled out a tight road game in the Southeastern Conference. Pope was impressed with Garrison on Wednesday.

“I thought he had an unbelievable defensive effort,” Pope said. “It was the best focus he’s had, the best energy he’s had. I thought he was really terrific.”

Pope knows that Garrison is a key cog in what this Kentucky team does on the defensive end of the floor.

“It means a lot to us. It’s actually really important,” Pope said. “I thought he was really special on the defensive end and he’s doing good things on the offensive end, too. I do think it’s a place where he’s growing. He’s made a huge jump from last year. I love the fact that he made multiple threes in the game at Oklahoma and all we want to talk about it his defense. That’s how impactful he was at the defensive end.”

Now, the challenge gets even bigger for Garrison and Kentucky as the Cats welcome top-ranked Auburn to Rupp Arena on Saturday (1 p.m. ET, ABC). Bruce Pearl’s Tigers are 26-2 overall and 14-1 in the SEC. Pope says that the Tigers do a lot of things very well.

“There’s a lot to see that makes them so good,” Pope said. “Most of the time, he’s got five guys on the floor who are capable of putting up 20 on any given night. They are incredible shot makers. They make difficult shots.”

Auburn’s best player is senior Johni Broome, a candidate for the national player of the year. Broome is averaging 18.8 points and 11.0 rebounds per game. He also leads the Tigers in assists and blocked shots. Pope knows that Broome is playing as well as anyone in the country.

“He’s a terrific talent,” Pope said. “He’s a veteran guy. He plays at a really high level. He can space out the floor and make shots there. His speed, he’s super, super physical. Really, really creative. Just a great player.”

Garrison, along with Amari Williams, will need their best defensive effort on Saturday to slow down Broome and the high-flying Tigers. Perhaps Wednesday’s game was a window to what’s to come for the UK interior defense.