FINAL: Kentucky can't steal one on the road, falls to Texas A&M 97-92 in overtime

It might officially be time to talk about Kentucky’s defensive issues…

After averaging just 54 points over its last two outings, the Texas A&M Aggies (10-6; 1-2 SEC) nearly hit triple-digits in a 97-92 win over the Wildcats (12-3; 2-1 SEC) on Saturday afternoon in College Station. Kentucky’s defense has been questionable all season long, and it finally bit the ‘Cats on the road. It was the most points of the year for Texas A&M and the Aggies’ 12 made triples were its second-most of the season.

A pair of high-level scorers powered Texas A&M. Wade Taylor IV dropped 31 points, six rebounds, and nine assists on six made three-pointers while Tyrece Radford went for 28 points, nine rebounds, and four assists. The Aggies shot just 40.2 percent from the field but grabbed eight more offensive rebounds, which turned into 21 second-chance points.

As for Kentucky, four Wildcats finished in double-figures, led by 22 points from Antonio Reeves, who was red-hot in the first half. DJ Wagner scored 18 points, Rob Dillingham added 15, and Reed Sheppard contributed 13 more. Despite hitting 15 three-pointers, Kentucky shot just 42.1 percent from the floor and went 13-21 from the free-throw line. Sophomore Ugonna Onyenso was a surprise performer, finishing with seven points, 10 rebounds, and five blocks in a career-high 31 minutes.

Texas A&M came into this game shooting just 26 percent from beyond the arc. That ranked 354th in the entire country out of 362 total teams. So of course the Aggies came out shooting lights out from deep. Texas A&M drilled its first three three-pointers of the afternoon and finished with six made triples in the first half.

The early hot start got the Aggies off to a quick 15-8 advantage, but Kentucky — mainly Antonio Reeves — was equally as efficient to get this one rolling. Kick-started by a Reeves three, UK immediately responded with an 8-0 run that knotted the score at 15-15. It was a scoring race for the rest of the opening half — including a controversial goaltending call that went against Kentucky — with Texas A&M maintaining a slight lead for most of it.

It wasn’t until there were 17 seconds left in the first half that Kentucky took its first lead since the 17:34 mark. Reeves drilled his fourth three-pointer of the opening 20 minutes to put Kentucky in front 45-44. The Aggies would steal the lead right back before the intermission though, taking a 46-45 score into the locker room.

Out of the break, Reeves didn’t skip a beat. He immediately hit another three-pointer which was followed up by a triple from Justin Edwards a couple of possessions later. Kentucky slowly began to build a lead, even going up by seven with 12 minutes to go after Sheppard canned a contested corner three.

It wouldn’t last long though. Texas A&M continued to scrap for points while Kentucky went on a poorly timed scoring drought that lasted nearly four minutes before Wagner found the bucket. At the under-8-minute timeout, the game was tied 68-68. Four minutes later, a three-ball from Wade Taylor put the Aggies back out front, 79-76.

Taylor kept it rolling too. At one point down the stretch, he scored 13 in a row for A&M. But Dillingham was just as hot after a slow start, canning three straight triples to knot the score at 87-87 with under 60 seconds in regulation. Kentucky would get the ball back with 27.8 seconds left and a chance to steal a tough road win.

But disaster would strike. Dillingham threw an off-target pass to Wagner, which he bobbled right to a Texas A&M defender. Tyrece Radford went the other way for the Aggies in transition and was fouled with 7.8 on the clock, hitting both. Dillingham would miss the potential game-winning triple right before the buzzer, but a foul was called on Sheppard with 0.6 left. The freshman was clutch and hit both, sending this game to overtime with a score of 89-89.

The extra period was nothing but a struggle for Kentucky. The Wildcats didn’t score its first points of overtime until there were 39 seconds in the game. Sheppard’s two free throws cut the Aggie lead down to just three, but it was too little, too late at that point. Texas A&M iced the game in the final moments at the stripe to win by five. Kentucky finished overtime 0-8 from the field.

Up next: Kentucky will return home to Rupp Arena for a matchup on Wednesday against Mississippi State. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. EST on ESPN2.