No. 24 Kentucky Falls at Texas A&M

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 19 points, including 13 in the second half, but No. 24 Kentucky lost at Texas A&M 85-74 on Saturday night in SEC action.

Gilgeous-Alexander hit nine of 12 from the floor and added eight assists and three rebounds in the game.

Kentucky (17-8, 6-6 SEC) got 18 points from Kevin Knox and 13 from Hamidou Diallo. Jarred Vanderbilt had seven points and seven rebounds before fouling out.

The Wildcats hit 30 of 66 (45.5 percent) from the floor in the game, including six of 15 (40 percent) from behind the arc. A&M was 31 of 66 (47 percent) from the floor, including nine of 23 (39.1 percent) from three-point range.

Kentucky outrebounded the bigger Aggies 43-40 and the Wildcats scored 17 points off of nine A&M turnovers.

Kentucky had an 8-5 lead early in the game behind six quick points from Knox. A&M answered with a 7-0 run to take a 12-8 advantage with 12:27 left in the half. From there, the game would be tied four times and there would be five lead changes before halftime. The final lead change of the first 20 minutes came when Gilgeous-Alexander hit a jumper to give the Cats a 27-26 lead with 56 seconds left in the half. The first half would end on a Quade Green three-pointer, and Kentucky held a 30-26 lead at the break.

The second half was a much different story. The game was tied 32-32 when the Aggies went on an 11-0 run to break it open. The run didn’t stop there, as A&M would make it a 29-7 stretch to lead 61-39 with 10:23 left in the contest.

Kentucky would trail 75-52 with 5:56 left in the game, but the Wildcats did not go away, chipping away at the lead for the rest of the game. The Cats used a 19-4 to to cut the lead to single digits, 79-71, with 56 seconds left. But Kentucky would get no closer.

Kentucky returns to action on Wednesday, when the Wildcats visit SEC-leading Auburn. Tipoff is at 9 p.m. and the game can be seen on ESPN2.