Kentucky-Texas A&M Men's Basketball Postgame Notes

KENTUCKY MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
BRIDGESTONE ARENA | NASHVILLE, TN
MARCH 15, 2024
ATTENDANCE: TBA

Final Score: Texas A&M 97, No. 9 Kentucky 87

Team Records and Series Notes

Kentucky leads the series, 13-6, but Texas A&M won both meetings this season. On January 13, the Aggies won 97-92 in overtime in Bryan-College Station.
- The teams have met one other time in the SEC Tournament as UK prevailed, 82-77, in overtime in the championship game of the 2016 event in Nashville.
Next for Kentucky: the Wildcats return home for the NCAA selection show Sunday night.

Kentucky in the SEC Tournament

Kentucky is now 135-30 all-time in the SEC Tournament.
- UK is 21-6 in SECT games played in Nashville, including 18-6 in the current arena.
UK is 46-13 in the quarterfinal round of the tourney.

Team Notes

Kentucky is 9-5 this season away from Rupp Arena, including 2-2 at neutral sites.
Kentucky shot 50% from the field, 30 of 60.
- This is the first game this season UK lost when making at least half their shots. UK is now 15-1 this season when making at least 50% of its field goal attempts.
- UK entered the game seventh in the nation in field goal percentage at 49.2%.
Kentucky scored 87 points.
- UK entered the game second in the nation in scoring at 89.5 points per game.
Kentucky shot 40.2% from 3-point range, 11 of 27.
- The Wildcats entered the game leading the nation at 41.2%.
Kentucky shot 72.7% on free throws, 16 of 22, the 11^th straight game at least 70% at the line.
Kentucky blocked 10 shots. The Wildcats entered the game third in the nation with 6.2 blocks per game.
After winning the rebounding the last three games, Kentucky lost the boardwork tonight, 38-34. Texas A&M won second-chance points, 26-9.
- UK is 15-0 on the season when winning or tying the rebounding.
Kentucky lost the battle of turnovers 14-6, leading to an 18-4 disadvantage in points off turnovers.

Player Notes

Rob Dillingham led Kentucky with 27 points, his second-highest scoring game of the season and eighth 20-point game of the season.
- He also led the Wildcats in assists with seven.
Plagued with foul trouble and eventually fouling out after 18 minutes of playing time, Antonio Reeves had 13 points, ending his streak of seven straight games of at least 20 points.
- Reeves was first Wildcat with seven consecutive 20-point games since Jamal Murray had 12 in a row in February/March 2016.
- He has scored in double figures in every game but one this season.
- He also has hit at least one 3-pointer in every game but one this season.
- He has 1,128 points in his two seasons as a Wildcat – moving past Oscar Tshiebwe (1,117) and Randolph Morris (1,123) to No. 47 on the all-time UK list.
- He moved past Tshiebwe to rank No. 2 among Wildcats who played only two seasons at UK. Bill Spivey owns the two-year mark with 1,213 points.
Reed Sheppard had 14 points, his 21^st double-figure game of the season.
- He had two steals, giving him 80 steals on the season and moving past Wayne Turner (79) for second place on the UK single-season list.
Tre Mitchell had seven points, going 3 of 3 from the field, and led UK with nine rebounds.
- It’s his most rebounds since grabbing nine vs. Florida on Jan. 31.

Coach John Calipari

Calipari has an 855-262 (76.5%) all-time on-court record, including 410-122 (77.1%) at Kentucky.
- Calipari is 171-59 as a collegiate coach in games played in March or April.
Calipari is 336-71 (82.6%) against unranked opponents while at Kentucky.
Calipari is 58-16 (78.4%) all-time in conference tournaments, including 24-8 (75.0%) in the SEC Tournament.
Calipari is 12-5 vs. Texas A&M, including 1-1 in the SEC Tournament.

In the First Half

Kentucky started J. Wagner, Antonio Reeves, Justin Edwards, Adou Thiero and Ugonna Onyenso for the seventh game. UK is 5-2 with this lineup.
Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard were UK’s first substitution with 17:17 remaining.
Texas A&M came out hot, making their first four 3-point shots, to stake a 14-7 lead.
UK came back with a 9-1 spurt to lead 16-15, the Wildcats’ last lead of the game.
TAMU called timeout at 13:07 and responded with a 7-0 run to lead 22-16.
TAMU added a 6-0 run and later an 8-0 run for the largest lead of the half at 45-34.
TAMU took a 48-42 lead into halftime.
Sheppard and Dillingham led the Wildcats with 14 and 11 points, respectively.
UK is 3-6 this season when trailing at halftime.

In the Second Half

Kentucky began the second half with the starting lineup.
Kentucky got within three points early in the half at 50-47 and 52-49 but got no closer.
TAMU stretched the lead to 80-64 with 6:21 remaining.
Kentucky had a 14-4 run to cut it to 84-78 with four minutes left but the Wildcats were unable to score on their next four possessions.

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