Kentucky at Texas A&M: Preview, Odds, How to Watch

Kentucky is off to a 2-0 start in SEC play, but the road isn’t getting any easier, and it continues away from home in back-to-back weekends. First it was a passed test in Gainesville. Now, the Wildcats head to College Station for a date with Texas A&M, another Quad 1 opportunity as the team slowly but surely builds its postseason resume.

Led by Buzz Williams, the Aggies made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017-18 a year ago, a first-round exit. A&M opened the year seen as a legitimate contender in the league, but the start has been underwhelming with six losses in the front-half of the schedule. The analytics haven’t given up on the Aggies — they’re still No. 40 in the NET — but the clock is ticking to get things turned around.

And they’ll welcome the Wildcats to Reed Arena with open arms hoping to flip that momentum back in their favor.

Let’s preview the matchup.

How To Watch

No. 6 Kentucky (12-2) at Texas A&M (9-6)
2 p.m. ET | Saturday, January 13 | Reed Arena, College Station, TX

• TV: ESPN (Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas and Jess Sims)
• Streaming: WatchESPN
• Home Radio: UK Sports Network – 630 WLAP, iHeart Radio (Tom Leach, Goose Givens)
• Online Radio: iHeart
• Satellite Radio: Sirius 81, SiriusXM App
• Live Stats: StatBroadcast

Team Records

No. 6 Kentucky: 11-2 (KenPom: 16)

• 11/6: 86-46 W vs. New Mexico State
• 11/10: 81-61 W vs. Texas A&M-Commerce (Wildcat Challenge)
• 11/14: 89-84 L vs. No. 1 Kansas
• 11/17: 101-67 W vs. Stonehill (Wildcat Challenge)
• 11/20: 96-88 OT W vs. Saint Joseph’s (Wildcat Challenge)
• 11/24: 118-82 W vs. Marshall
• 11/28: 95-73 W vs. No. 8 Miami (FL)
• 12/2: 80-73 L vs. UNC-Wilmington
• 12/9: 81-66 W vs. Penn
• 12/16: 87-83 W vs. No. 9 North Carolina
• 12/21: 95-76 W at Louisville
• 12/29: 96-70 W vs. Illinois State
• 1/6: 87-85 W at Florida
• 1/13: 90-77 W vs. Missouri

Texas A&M: 9-6 (KenPom: 34)

• 11/6: 78-46 W vs. Texas A&M-Commerce
• 11/10: 73-66 W at Ohio State
• 11/14: 79-66 W at SMU
• 11/17: 74-66 W vs. Oral Roberts
• 11/23: 89-77 W vs. Penn State
• 11/24: 96-89 L vs. No. 19 Florida Atlantic
• 11/26: 73-69 W vs. Iowa State
• 11/29: 59-47 L at Virginia
• 12/6: 89-64 W vs. DePaul
• 12/10: 81-75 L vs. Memphis
• 12/16: 70-66 L vs. No. 4 Houston
• 12/22: 79-52 W vs. Houston Christian
• 12/30: 79-54 W vs. Prairie View A&M
• 1/6: 68-53 L vs. LSU
• 1/9: 66-55 L at No. 16 Auburn

Series History

Kentucky leads the all-time series 13-4 with wins in eight of the last nine matchups — including four straight overall and three consecutive since Buzz Williams took over as head coach in 2019. John Calipari is 11-3 in the head-to-head battle dating back to 2013, two of the three losses coming in College Station.

The Wildcats won the matchup last season in Lexington 76-67, Antonio Reeves going for a game-high 23 points, followed by Jacob Toppin with 17, CJ Fredrick with 12 and Cason Wallace with 11.

Kentucky at Texas A&M Odds via FanDuel

Spread: Texas A&M -1.5
Total: 156.5

Kentucky Projected Starters

(Starting lineup based on the last game)

#21 – DJ Wagner
6-4 • 192 • GUARD • FRESHMAN
12.4 PPG, 3.5 APG

#12 – Antonio Reeves
6-6 • 195 • GUARD • SENIOR
18.6 PPG, 4.3 RPG

#1 – Justin Edwards
6-8 • 203 • FORWARD • FRESHMAN
9.1 PPG, 4.2 RPG

#4 – Tre Mitchell
6-9 • 231 • FORWARD • GRADUATE STUDENT
13.2 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 3.2 APG

#2 – Aaron Bradshaw
7-1 • 226 • FORWARD • FRESHMAN
8.0 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 1.0 BPG

Head Coach: John Calipari (32nd season, 15th at UK) – 844-255 overall, 399-115 at UK

Texas A&M Projected Starters

(Starting lineup based on the last game)

#4 – Wade Taylor
6-0 • 175 • GUARD • JUNIOR
17.3 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 4.0 APG

#2 – Hayden Hefner
6-6 • 185 • GUARD • SENIOR
8.9 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 1.1 APG

#23 – Tyrece Radford
6-3 • 190 • GUARD • SENIOR
12.2 PPG, 5.1 RPG

#15 – Henry Coleman III
6-8 • 245 • FORWARD • SENIOR
12.5 PPG, 8.4 RPG

#10 – Wildens Leveque
6-11 • 250 • FORWARD • SENIOR
2.1 PPG, 3.4 RPG

Head Coach: Buzz Williams (5th season at Texas A&M, 17th overall): 83-53 at A&M, 336-208 overall

Statistical Comparison

(via Kentucky’s game notes)

Fun stats from UK’s game notes:

• Kentucky sits 17th in the latest NET rankings. The SEC has four teams in the top 25, six in the top 50 and 11 in the top 100.
• The Wildcats rank in the top 10 nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (3rd), fastbreak points (7th), scoring (2nd) and 3-point percentage (8th).
• Calipari is one win shy of winning No. 400 at UK’s coach. He is already the second winningest coach in program history.

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Pregame Storylines

JOHN CALIPARI GOES FOR WIN NO. 400

Coach Cal has racked up 844 on-court wins across 32 seasons of college basketball, 399 across 15 at Kentucky — this one for big No. 400 leading the Wildcats. He’s won 11 against the Aggies dating back to 2013 including four straight and eight of his last nine in the head-to-head. Winning his 12th against Texas A&M would give him 845 overall, inching him closer toward Adolph Rupp’s total mark of 876 wins.

A BAD 3-POINT SHOOTING GROUP…

How does Calipari get it done in College Station? On paper, there’s not much to worry about from a 3-point shooting perspective. The Aggies hit just 26.0% of its attempts from deep, good for No. 346 nationally and dead last among high-majors. Only IUPUI (25.6%), Detroit Mercy (25.6%), Utah Valley (25.2%), Coppin State (24.7%) and Houston Christian (24.5%) are worse. Not a single player on the roster is shooting better than 37.5% individually, just two averaging at least one make from deep per game.

… BUT AN ELITE REBOUNDING TEAM

They may be inconsistent from three, but they’re dominant on the glass, specifically on the offensive end. Texas A&M is pulling down 18.3 offensive boards per game, good for No. 1 in the nation. Interestingly enough, they’re only snagging 24.6 per contest on the defensive end, good for No. 251 nationally. That pulls the overall rebounding rate down to No. 8 in the country and No. 15 in total margin, but still a force overall. Kentucky sits at No. 84 in the country in rebounding at 38.64 per contest. The rebounding battle will decide the game.

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Join The Discussion on KSBoard

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Rapid Reaction on the KSR YouTube Channel

Miss the game? KSR’s got you covered with a Rapid Reaction live from College Station on the KSR YouTube Channel. We’ll also have wall-to-wall postgame coverage on the website, including highlights, comments from John Calipari and the players, stats, and takeaways.

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