Freeze with the Tigers against Great Britain after being late due to illness

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Auburn coach Hugh Freeze arrived well before the Tigers' Southeastern Conference game against Kentucky Saturday night and stood on the sideline before kickoff after missing the team Friday because of an illness.

Sources told ESPN's Pete Thamel that Freeze did not travel after becoming ill on Friday. An Auburn football spokesman confirmed that the coach was suffering from nausea described as a “24-hour virus,” but flew to Lexington Saturday morning and was with the team several hours before the scheduled 7:45 p.m. ET began their pregame Tiger Walk at Kroger Field. Freeze went through his normal pregame routine, the spokesman added, and even took photos on the field.

The night ended well for Freeze and the Tigers, who scored 24 straight points for a 24-10 win.

“It would have been really terrible for everyone if I had tried to travel with them yesterday,” said Freeze, who received an IV for dehydration before the game. “But nothing was really different except I missed the Friday night meetings.”

The Tigers (3-5, 1-4) ended a four-game losing streak and saved their fading bowl prospects. Auburn has won 10 straight games heading to Lexington since 1966, beating a Wildcats team (3-5, 1-5) that needed a bounce-back of its own after its third straight loss and fifth in seven games.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.