No. 8 Kentucky picked up its fifth win over a ranked opponent on Tuesday night with an 81-69 victory over No. 11 Texas A&M.
Kentucky continued to share the ball in the win. Coming into Tuesday, the Wildcats were tied for seventh in the country with 18.6 assists per game according to TeamRankings. That continued with 19 assists on 24 made field goals against Texas A&M.
The Wildcats also won the rebounding advantage, 40-30, which is an area they have struggled in at times this season. After taking a 35-32 lead into the break, Kentucky never surrendered the lead the rest of the way.
Coming off his career-high 27 points on Saturday against Mississippi State, senior guard Jaxson Robinson had 22 points and hit five of his 13 three-point attempts, including this jumper to get Kentucky within one with just over a minute remaining in the opening half.
Senior guard Otega Oweh had 11 points, highlighted by this poster dunk that gave Kentucky a 50-38 lead with under 14 minutes to play. Oweh has scored at least 10 points in every game this season.
Other than senior guard Zhuric Phelps’ 21 points — his third consecutive with 21 or more — Texas A&M struggled to shoot as a team. The Aggies were only 23-for-59 from the field and 7-for-30 (23.3%) from deep.
This was the third consecutive game the team’s leading scorer, Wade Taylor IV, missed due to an undisclosed reason. Taylor’s absence has definitely been felt with the Aggies losing two of those three without him.
Texas A&M (13-4, 2-2 SEC) will look to end its two-game skid against LSU on Saturday.
This was the first time in four conference games that Kentucky has allowed fewer than 82 points. If the Wildcats (14-3, 3-1 SEC) can play defense at that level on a consistent basis, they could be even more dangerous. Another home game this Saturday against No. 4 Alabama awaits.
