No. 8 Cats Down No. 11 Aggies on Tuesday
Jaxson Robinson scored 15 of his 22 points in the first half as No. 8 Kentucky topped 11th-ranked Texas A&M 81-69 on Tuesday at Rupp Arena.
Andrew Carr had 13 points and Otega Oweh added 11 as Kentucky won its second straight game. The Cats made 24 of 52 (46.2 percent) from the field, including 9 of 27 (33.3 percent) from beyond the arc. Kentucky hit 24 of 31 at the line and outrebounded the Aggies 40-30.
Kentucky (14-3, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) scored the first points of the game when Amari Williams found Carr underneath for an easy layup. After an A&M three, Lamont Butler found Jaxson Robinson for a reverse layup that gave the Cats a 4-3 lead. The next trip down, Robinson hit a three and UK had a 7-3 advantage.
Texas A&M (13-4, 2-2) answered with a three of their own to get within one, but Carr scored on consecutive trips and the Cats led 11-6. However, the Aggies scored the next 12 points to lead 18-11. A Robinson free throw and a Williams putback got the Cats within four, 18-14.
The Aggies hit two free throws to make it 20-14 before Ansley Almonor hit three free throws, cutting the deficit to 20-17. A pair of Koby Brea free throws got the Cats within one, 20-19 but the Aggies scored to extend the lead to 22-19. An Almonor three tied the game at 22-22.
A three gave the Aggies a 25-22 lead before Butler made two free throws to cut it to one, 25-24. After another A&M three, Robinson hit a three of his own, getting Kentucky within one again, 28-27. The teams traded threes again, with Robinson doing the honors for the Cats, making it 31-30. After an Aggies’ free throw, Butler hit a pair of charity tosses to tie the game at 32-32 with under a minute to play in the half. A Robinson three-pointer with four seconds left gave Kentucky a 35-32 lead, which would be the halftime score. Robinson led all scorers with 15 points in the first 20 minutes.
The second half scoring commenced with a pair of Otega Oweh free throws, followed by a Travis Perry three, giving the Cats a 40-32 lead. After and A&M timeout, Robinson hit another three to stretch the lead to 43-32. The Aggies would get a bucket before Perry hit another three, stretching the lead to 46-34. After an A&M basket, Carr scored in the lane, giving UK a 48-36 advantage.
After an A&M basket, Oweh crashed the rim for a massive dunk that gave Kentucky a 50-38 lead. A&M would convert a three-point play before Williams grabbed an offensive rebound and stuck it back in to extend the lead to 52-41. A&M scored again before an Oweh steal and dunk made it 54-43. A Brandon Garrison dunk extended the lead to 56-43.
The Aggies would score five in a row, getting within eight points at 56-48. But Brea hit a three to stretch the lead back to 11 points, 59-48. Texas A&M had an answer, scoring five in a row to make it 59-53 with 6:58 to play.
Williams hit two free throws and Robinson hit a baseline jumper to extend the UK lead to 63-53. A&M hit one of two at the line before a Robinson dunk made it 65-54. A&M scored to make it 65-56 before Oweh made one of two at the line, giving UK a 10-point advantage.
A&M hit a pair of free throws before a Carr three-point play gave the Cats a 69-58 lead with 3:27 remaining. After another Aggies’ basket, Garrison hit two free throws to make it 71-60 with 2:55 to play. After three Aggies’ free throws, the Cats scored six in a row to put the game away.
Kentucky returns to action on Saturday, hosting No. 4 Alabama at Rupp Arena. Tipoff is set for noon ET and the game can be seen on ESPN.
