First Scouting Report: In SEC tourney debut, Kentucky gets a ‘revenge game’ vs. Texas A&M
A look ahead to the Kentucky Wildcats’ next men’s basketball game:
The opponent
No. 9 Kentucky (23-8) will face Texas A&M (19-13) in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals on Friday, March 15, at Bridgestone Arena (seating capacity approximately 18,500) in Nashville.
The game will tip off at 7 p.m. EDT and be telecast by the SEC Network.
Texas A&M defeated Mississippi 80-71 Thursday night in the SEC tourney second round.
Series history
Kentucky leads the all-time series with Texas A&M 13-5.
In the only SEC Tournament meeting between the teams, UK defeated the Aggies 82-77 in overtime in the 2016 championship game.
Of the 15 games Kentucky and Texas A&M have played since the Aggies entered the SEC in 2012-13, five have gone to overtime. UK is 3-2 vs. A&M in those overtime contests.
As UK head man, John Calipari is 11-4 vs. the Aggies.
Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams is 1-3 vs. Kentucky as Aggies head man and 1-4 overall.
Most recent meeting
Texas A&M veteran guards Wade Taylor IV and Tyrece Radford lit up Kentucky. Taylor, a junior, scored 31 points and Radford, a super-senior, added 28 to lead the Aggies to a 97-92 overtime victory over UK at Reed Arena in College Station on Jan. 13, 2024.
Antonio Reeves, 22 points, and D.J. Wagner, 18, led Kentucky.
The loss temporarily denied John Calipari what would have been his 400th win as UK head man.
Power rankings
In the Pomeroy Ratings, Kentucky is No. 17 and Texas A&M No. 48.
The NCAA NET rankings have Kentucky No. 19, Texas A&M No. 47.
In Joe Lunardi’s most-recent “Bracketology” at ESPN.com, Kentucky is projected to be the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament’s East Region, while Texas A&M is “the first team out” of the field of 68.
Know your foe
1. Though Kentucky has the motivation of seeking to avenge an earlier loss to Texas A&M, the Aggies — if Joe Lunardi’s “Bracketology” is correct — will have the impetus of knowing that A&M might secure a place in the NCAA Tournament with a second victory over UK.
Texas A&M’s NCAA Tournament profile is unusual. The Aggies have wins over the teams ranked No. 5 (Tennessee), No. 9 (Iowa State) and No. 19 (Kentucky) in the NCAA NET Rankings and are a combined 11-9 in Quad 1 and Quad 2 contests (those deemed the most difficult to win by the NCAA).
However, A&M is 2-4 in Quad 3 games. The Aggies lost five straight games from Feb. 13 through Feb. 28 to imperil their NCAA tourney hopes.
Since then, Texas A&M has now won four straight.
2. Texas A&M’s primary issue in 2023-24 is that the Aggies have great difficulty getting the ball to go through the hoop. Out of 351 NCAA Division teams, A&M entered the SEC Tournament No. 339 in field-goal percentage (39.7 percent) and No. 349 in 3-point percentage (27.8.).
In the win over Kentucky on Jan. 13, Texas A&M shot well above its season averages, making 40.2 percent (33-of-82) from the floor and 37.5 percent (12-of-32) on 3-pointers.
3. After playing two seasons at Virginia Tech, Tyrece Radford transferred to Texas A&M. As an Aggie, the 6-foot-3, 190-pound product of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has developed into something of a nemesis for Kentucky.
After scoring six points on 2-of-7 shooting in his first meeting with UK in 2021-22, Radford has gone for 22 points (2022-23) and 28 (this year) in his last two meetings vs. the Wildcats.
In those latter two games vs. Kentucky, Radford has made 18 of 33 shots overall and 5 of 10 treys.
This story was originally published March 14, 2024 at 9:33 PM.
