Texas A&M (10-6, 1-2) gives No. 6 Kentucky (12-3, 3-1) their first SEC loss in an overtime thriller at Reed Arena on Saturday afternoon.
The game started with both teams trading the lead back and forth early. Senior guard Tyrece Radford is rounding back into form and provided some much-needed offense that’s been missing over the past few weeks, scoring seven points in the first five minutes.
There seemed to be a sense of urgency coming to this game for A&M looking like a much more focused team and better shot selection. They were able to get multiple early three-point opportunities by attacking the basket and converting and-ones.
Halfway through the first half, Texas A&M held a 29-23 lead before Kentucky started to get their transition game rolling, not allowing the Aggies to extend that lead past six points for most of the remaining half.
A big change compared to the previous games was how well the Aggies shot behind the arc to start the game, finishing the first half at 50% from the field. However, Kentucky is ranked No. 6 for a reason and clawed back to go into halftime down one, 46-45. Wade Taylor IV led all Aggies, scoring 12.
keep that energy.
twenty more minutes soon. pic.twitter.com/4XRqSu7dbS— Texas A&M Basketball (@aggiembk) January 13, 2024
The second half started just like the first, with both teams hitting threes and exchanging the lead back and forth. Kentucky was extremely efficient, taking advantage of their speed and getting down the court extremely fast for open buckets. The Wildcats slowly started to pull away eight minutes in, holding a four-point lead of 65-61 as they rolled to the halfway point of the second half. A stalemate ensued for the next few minutes as neither team could hit a bucket or knock down a free throw.
A&M turned up the defense when needed, and Andersson Garcia scored back-to-back buckets to tie the game 68-68. An intense next few minutes pushed the score out to 74-74 off buckets from Taylor and Kentucky’s Sheppard made three pointer. Taylor started to take over, helping the Aggies grab an 82-78 lead with two and a half minutes left in the game. A wild sequence of threes by both teams came down to a tie game at 87-87, with Kentucky having the ball at the end of the game.
Garcia came up with a steal, which led to free throws for Radford, who knocked down both to put the Aggies up 89-87. Unfortunately, for the Maroon & White, a phantom foul put the Wildcats on the line, where they knocked down their two to tie the game, forcing overtime.
A&M started OT on a 5-0 run to take a 94-89 lead, but more whistles caused a major swing, taking a three-point shot away from Radford due to a “kick out” after his shot. On the other end, Kentucky went 2-3 after a foul by Taylor on a three-point shot.
Once again, with under 40 seconds left on the clock, A&M was able to control the ball and make their foul shots down the stretch to take a 97-92 lead. With a chance to cut the lead, Kentucky came down the court and threw the ball out of bounds with 3 seconds left to end the game, giving the Aggies their first SEC win of the year and a huge one at that.
Below are the Aggie critical contributors from the game:
Wade Taylor IV: 31 points / 5 rebounds
Tyrece Radford: 28 points / 9 rebounds
Andersson Garica: 5 points / 8 rebounds
Texas A&M will be back in action when they travel to Fayetteville to take on Arkansas on January 16 at 8:00 PM CT.
Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes, and opinions. Follow Jarrett Johnson on Twitter: @whosnextsports1.