Cats to face A&M in SEC Tourney opener

Kentucky will have a chance to avenge one of its regular-season losses in its opening game of the SEC Tournament.

Seventh-seeded Texas A&M advanced to the quarterfinals with an 80-71 win over 10-seed Ole Miss on Thursday night at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

The No. 9 Wildcats (23-8), seeded second in the tourney, await the Buzz Williams' squad in a 7 p.m. ET matchup on Friday.

The Aggies (19-13) used their trademark relentless rebounding to outlast the Rebels, owning the glass 48-32 and beating Ole Miss 21-4 on second-chance points. That physicality, and a 27-of-37 night at the free-throw line, helped Texas A&M overcome its 37% shooting from the field and a 5-for-21 effort from the 3-point arc.

Texas A&M was No. 1 in the league in rebound margin this season at plus-8.8. The Aggies also finished No. 4 in scoring defense (69.5) and field-goal defense (42.1%).

In a Jan. 13 matchup at College Station, Texas A&M outlasted the Wildcats 97-92 in overtime.

All-SEC point guard Wade Taylor IV had 31 points, while backcourt mate Tyrese Radford added 28 for the Aggies. Taylor went only 7-of-24 from the field but hurt the Cats by constantly getting to the foul line, where he knocked down 11 of 12 on the night.

Senior guard Antonio Reeves tallied 22 points and freshman guard DJ Wagner added 18 points for Kentucky in the first matchup. Fellow freshman guards Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard also chipped in with 15 and 13 points, respectively.

The Cats played without sophomore forward Adou Thiero and freshman center Zvonimir Ivisic in the Jan. 13 game.