Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s victory at Texas A&M
Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s 69-60 win over the Texas A&M Aggies at Reed Arena on Tuesday:
1. Facing Kentucky is where winning streaks go to die
Ole Miss had won three games in a row. And then Rebels lost to Kentucky 67-62 in Rupp Arena on Feb. 15. Florida has won three in a row. And then the Gators lost to Kentucky 65-59 in Rupp Arena last Saturday. Texas A&M had won three in a row. And then the Aggies welcomed the Wildcats to College Station. End of win streak.
“I was scared to death of this game,” UK head coach John Calipari said afterward. “This was a trap game. I knew it.”
It was an Immanuel Quickley game, Kentucky’s sophomore guard exploding for a career-high 30 points. Quickley made 11 of his 19 shot, including eight of 12 three-point attempts. Afterward, teammate EJ Montgomery said Quickley was so hot he was too hot to touch.
The Cats are hot, too. Tuesday was their seventh straight win and 11th in their last 12. They are 13-2 in SEC play and assured of keeping their two-game lead with three games remaining before the conference tournament in Nashville. They haven’t lost since falling 75-66 at Auburn way back on Feb. 1. And guess who comes to Rupp Arena on Saturday? You guessed it.
2. Immanuel Quickley is destroying opponents’ strategy
Texas A&M’s Buzz Williams is a smart coach. In fact, at least before Tuesday night’s game, there were plenty around the SEC who felt like the Texas native was John Calipari’s chief competition for Coach of the Year honors. Picked in the preseason to finish 13th in the 14-team SEC, the Aggies were 8-6 in the conference before Kentucky’s arrival.
And Williams’ employed a sound strategy. As he explained after the game, given the Aggies’ limitations, Texas A&M wants to keep the ball out of the paint as much as possible, keep the ball in front of the defense as much as possible and avoid fouling. The main goal, Williams said, is to force the opponent to take more three-point shots than the opponent wants to shoot.
Kentucky took 22 three-point shots Tuesday, a few more than would normally get Calipari’s approval. Thing is, Quickley isn’t playing like a normal player. Not in this recent stretch of games. After scoring a career-high 26 points against Florida, the sophomore topped that Tuesday. In all, UK made 11 three-point shots, and eight of those makes belonged to Quickley.
“I didn’t think I had that many,” said the Maryland native afterward. “I thought I only had four.”
After Texas A&M had chopped UK’s 14-point lead down to six with 14:16 remaining, Quickley hit back-to-back three-pointers from the left corner — an open spot in the Texas A&M zone — that quickly pushed the lead back to a dozen points and put Kentucky back in control of the game.
“How many shots did he take?” asked Calipari afterward, before reading off the 19 on the box score. “Not bad. That’s a pretty good night, 30 points on 19 shots.”
Not bad at all.
3. EJ Montgomery could be Kentucky’s X-factor
Subbing for Calipari during UK’s media availability on Monday, assistant coach Kenny Payne insisted that the 6-foot-10 sophomore was close to putting it all together. And little by little, Montgomery does appear closer to being a real positive factor for a team beginning to peek ahead to the postseason.
Montgomery had eight points and seven rebounds in the first half on Tuesday. He did not score in the second half, but ended the night with 10 boards to go with three assists, two steals and a blocked shot. Of those 10 rebounds, five came at the offensive end.
Especially early, Montgomery showed the intensity and aggressiveness that too often appears to be lacking from his game. At the 15:20 mark, he threw down a follow jam off a missed shot. Then with 13:35 remaining, he drove the right baseline under the basket and made a half-windmill jam to put UK up 21-14.
“EJ was outstanding today,” said Calipari. “That’s the best I’ve seen EJ play in awhile.”
Just think of what this team is capable of doing in March if it consistently gets positive performances from Montgomery?
This story was originally published February 25, 2020 at 10:55 PM.
