Buzz Williams, Manny Obaseki preview rematch against Kentucky after victory over Ole Miss

In January, Kentucky and Texas A&M battled it out in a thriller in College Station. Ultimately, the Aggies came out on top 97-92 to get their first SEC win of the year and hand the Wildcats their first conference loss.

Friday night, the two teams will square off again in the conference tournament – and Buzz Williams knows both programs are in different spots than they were two months ago.

Since that matchup, Kentucky went on to finish 13-5 in SEC play to become the No. 2 seed in the league tournament while Texas A&M became the No. 7 seed in the field. Thursday, the Aggies set up the rematch by hanging on to defeat Ole Miss at Bridgestone Arena, and they’ll turn around for the 7 p.m. tip-off on Thursday.

Williams pointed out the level of talent Kentucky brings into the game and said Texas A&M has to get busy with preparation and play better than the last go-round.

“They’re hard to guard 1-on-1,” Williams said on SEC Now. “Among the best in the country, relative to talent. I need to do a lot of studying. In truth, all I’ve tried to do is just be present in that particular day. So we’ve got a lot of work to do. I know Coach [John Calipari] has done an unbelievable job since we played them. We’re thankful for that win, we hope that that matters.

“But we’ll have to be even better than we were in College Station because I think they’re a lot better than they were when we played in College Station.”

Manny Obaseki had a solid showing against Ole Miss on Thursday with 12 points before fouling out, and he had five points in 11 minutes during the first game against Kentucky. Of course, as Buzz Williams said, things have changed since then. He earned a starting role at Texas A&M and put up 25 points in the regular season finale against Ole Miss.

When asked what it’ll take to beat the Wildcats, though, Obaseki kept it simple.

“Just be aggressive,” Obaseki said. “Just keep doing what we’ve been doing. Don’t try to change anything up. They’re a really good team, very talented. We’ve got to guard the ball. And I think if we do that and rebound, we’ll be just fine.”

As the No. 2 seed, Kentucky clinched a double bye in the SEC Tournament, meaning Friday’s game will be the Wildcats’ first of the week and Texas A&M’s second in as many days. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.