Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s tough overtime loss at Texas A&M
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Game day: Texas A&M 97, No. 6 Kentucky 92 (OT)
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Texas A&M in College Station, Texas.
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Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s 97-92 overtime loss to Texas A&M in College Station.
1. UK’s opponent made the key plays this time
Down the stretch against North Carolina in the CBS Sports Classic and against Florida in the SEC opener, Kentucky’s youthful Wildcats played with uncommon poise. They executed the key plays to win both games. Saturday, on the road against a desperate opponent, Kentucky didn’t make those same types of plays.
To be sure, the Cats did at the end of regulation. Or Rob Dillingham did. The freshman guard buried three consecutive 3-pointers to bring the visitors back from an 82-78 deficit to an 87-87 tie with 1:07 left. And Reed Sheppard did. The freshman guard sank two free throws with all of 0.6 seconds left to send the game into overtime.
In the extra period, Kentucky just couldn’t score, however. Nor could it stop the Aggies guard combo of Wade Taylor IV and Tyrese Radford from scoring. Radford scored 10 seconds into the OT to give the home team a 91-89 lead. A&M never trailed after that. After a pair of Kentucky misses, Radford made one of two free throws for a 92-89 advantage. After a couple more UK misses, Taylor buried two foul shots for an 94-89 lead with 2:35 left in the extra period.
In fact, Kentucky did not make a field goal in the final five minutes. UK was 0-for-8 from the floor, including 0-for-3 from 3-point range. Two of three free throws by Sheppard and one of two free throws by Mitchell accounted for the Wildcats’ three points. A&M scored just the one field goal — Radford’s drive — but went 6-for-8 from the foul line.
2. Kentucky’s defense is an issue
Coming into the game, Texas A&M had shot 25.4% from the floor in a home loss to LSU and 29.0% in a road loss at Auburn. In the two games combined, the Aggies shot 11-for-61 from 3-point range for 18%. No wonder Buzz Williams’ club entered the Kentucky game a disappointing 0-2 in league play.
Saturday was a much different story. The Aggies shot 40.2% from the floor, but went 12-for-32 from 3-point range for 37.5%. And though it shot just 63.3% from the foul line, Williams’ club took 33 free throws. Kentucky shot 21, making 13 for 61.9%.
The reason Texas A&M found a home at the foul stripe? Again, Kentucky had trouble staying in front of the Aggies on defense. Especially Taylor and Radford. Taylor finished with 31 points. He made 11 of his 12 free throws. Radford finished with 28 points. He made just 3 of 9 free throws but was 11-for-22 from the floor. He also grabbed nine boards as the Aggies outrebounded Kentucky 54-46.
I wrote earlier this week that the nit to pick in Kentucky’s impressive start was its problems on defense. The Cats had not been bad on defense, but they hadn’t been great either. Not compared to John Calipari’s previous UK teams that excelled on that end of the floor. To this point, the Cats’ offensive firepower had been enough for a 12-2 start and No. 6 overall ranking. That wasn’t the case on Saturday.
3. There will be many more tight games
This wasn’t a bad loss for the Cats. It was on the road. It was against a team that needed a win to keep from an 0-3 SEC start. It was against a team that, despite its early struggles in conference play, is a good team. Yes, Texas A&M had lost six games. Among those to beat the Aggies were Houston, Florida Atlantic, Virginia and Memphis and Auburn. Tough competition.
That’s just the way it’s going to be in the SEC. It’s a tough league. One that stats guru Ken Pomeroy ranks third behind the Big 12 and Big East. It’s an especially tough league on the road. And Kentucky has trips to South Carolina, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Auburn, LSU, Mississippi State and Tennessee left. I’ll be surprised if anyone runs with the regular season league trophy this year.
Nothing happened Saturday that made me think any less of the current UK collection. Well, maybe some of those nagging defensive problems. But there was a reason why Texas A&M was a 2.5-point favorite in some of the betting books. Aaron Bradshaw’s foul trouble didn’t help. Nor did Tre Mitchell (1-for-6) and D.J. Wagner (1-for-5) going 2-for-11 from behind the 3-point arc.
There were silver linings. Ugonna Onyenso being at the top of the list. With Bradshaw playing six minutes, Onyenso played a career-high 31. He finished with 10 rebounds and five blocked shots in those 31 minutes. He’s going to continue to improve.
This story was originally published January 13, 2024 at 5:49 PM.
