UK-Texas A&M notes: Derek Willis injury will further test Kentucky’s belief in ‘next-man-up’ mantra

Kentucky went into its game at Texas A&M with a next-man-up mantra. Unfortunately for the Cats, the game presented the dilemma of next-man-down.

Derek Willis had to be helped off the court with 8:30 left in the second half. He sprained an ankle.

In his post-game news conference, UK Coach John Calipari said he did not have an update on Willis’ condition. But, he added, “I heard it’s a pretty bad sprain.”

Willis, who scored three points (his lowest total since going scoreless at Alabama on Jan. 9), had been credited with playing a key role in Kentucky’s recent surge. His perimeter shooting (15 of 28 from three-point range in the last four games) stretched defenses and gave UK’s three star guards more room to operate.

Calipari called for perseverance.

“Next man up,” Calipari said. “Maybe it’s Charles Matthews.”

Matthews, a freshman from Chicago, played seven scoreless minutes against Texas A&M. He’s scored 16 points in UK’s last 14 games, a span in which he went scoreless eight times.

Calipari reminded reporters of how adaptable the Cats have been this season. They absorbed the losses of Isaiah Briscoe and Alex Poythress, both of whom were injured in pre-game warm-ups.

Facing an uncertain future, Calipari said, “We’ve been doing it all year.”

Kentucky fell to 20-7 overall and 10-4 in the Southeastern Conference.

SEC race

Texas A&M kept alive its hopes of a Southeastern Conference championship. The Aggies improved to 20-7 overall and 9-5 in the league, the latter is a game behind Kentucky with four to play.

Kentucky’s final five opponents rank among the six SEC teams with the best Ratings Percentage Index.

A&M (No. 26) was second-best to UK. Florida (No. 30) is third-best, Alabama (No. 32) fourth-best and Vanderbilt (No. 65) sixth-best.

“Our schedule is brutal,” Calipari said.

By contrast, none of the Aggies’ final four opponents have a RPI in the top 50. Mississippi State (No. 167), Missouri (No. 190) and Auburn (No. 131) are the SEC teams with three of the four worst RPI numbers.

A&M finishes the season at home against Vanderbilt.

A&M Coach Billy Kennedy did not embrace the notion of a favorable schedule.

“There’s no best schedule,” he said. “This time of year, every team is fighting for wins.”

Teams that are out of the race are dangerous, he said, because “they have nothing to lose.”

Other teams are inspired by aspirations of getting into the NCAA Tournament or improving their seeding.”

Thursday-Saturday

Kentucky’s task of playing two games within 48 hours did not escape Murray’s attention. The Cats beat Tennessee Thursday night before traveling here Friday.

Texas A&M last played on Tuesday against Ole Miss.

“They had four days to prepare,” Murray said only slightly exaggerating, “and we had one.”

Good game, but …

Calipari took a measure of satisfaction in working a hotly competitive game.

“Our kids fought and I was proud of them,” he said. “So did Texas A&M. They fought.

“That was a heck of a basketball game. … This was just a grind-it-out (game), just trying to win a game by doing whatever you could.”

Calipari likened UK’s efforts to keep control to “putting together plays on the fly, like in football drawing (plays) on the ground.”

Tyler Davis, who had the winning put-back, said he almost dreaded going into overtime.

“I felt I was drained … ,” he said. “It’s just competitive college basketball. Everybody wants to win. Both teams played their hearts out.”

Kentucky is Kentucky

Kennedy saluted Kentucky’s effort and self-belief.

“When you put the Kentucky jersey on, you can see those kids think they’re going to win every game,” he said.

Kennedy credited Calipari for instilling this belief.

Three-point history

Such an exciting game overshadowed Kentucky making history.

The Cats made 10 of 20 three-point shots. That marked the fifth straight game in which UK made 10 or more three-pointers.

No Kentucky team had made 10 or more three-point shots in more than four games. The four previous times UK had made double-digit three-point shots in four straight games came in 1989-90, twice in 1991-92 and once in 1992-93.

This story was originally published February 20, 2016 at 11:01 PM with the headline "UK-Texas A&M notes: Derek Willis injury will further test Kentucky’s belief in ‘next-man-up’ mantra."