QUICK TAKES: Texas A&M 97, Kentucky 87
In our regular postgame feature, the Cats Illustrated staff offers its first impressions from Kentucky's SEC Tournament opener, a 97-87 loss to Texas A&M on Friday night at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville...
JUSTIN ROWLAND:
I feel for the Kentucky fans who made the trip and expected this to be a fun weekend in Nashville. What an egg. We know this isn't a good defensive team. But they were really bad tonight. My opinion is still that the NCAA Tournament is random, and its unpredictability isn't really affected by how a team played in the conference tournament. I think Texas A&M played at a high level, but Kentucky just could not stop the ball. I also thought they showed some nerves at times on offense. Not a great sign before the Big Dance.
JEFF DRUMMOND:
You gotta tip your cap to Texas A&M. That's a hard pill for BBN to swallow on this night, but the Aggies played desperate to lock up a spot in the NCAA Tournament and turned in what might be their best possible performance. Buzz Williams' team entered the game 350th in the nation in 3-point shooting at a woeful 27.7% There's only one team worse on the NCAA stat sheet. Kentucky entered the game No. 1 at 41.2% Amazingly, the two teams both hit 11 from the 3-point arc. A&M also turned 13 offensive rebounds into a crazy 26 second-chance points. I'm not sure I've ever seen that stat result in two points for each one grabbed. The Cats have no answer defensively for Wade Taylor IV and Tyrese Radford, who have scored 114 points in two wins over UK this season. It's hard to type that last line with a straight face. They may have cost themselves a seed line tonight.
TRAVIS GRAF:
Forget the last time Kentucky won the SEC Tournament, which was 2018. With this loss, Kentucky has now lost five of their last six SEC Tournament games. Does this preview another NCAA Tournament flameout like those seasons? Remains to be seen. However, Kentucky doesn’t have a lot of past history to hang their hat on to get excited for the Big Dance. I’m normally not the type that comments on who starts and who comes off the bench, but how many times is Kentucky going to let tough teams punch them in the mouth to start games and dig a hole? Teams with a prolific scoring guard should scare Kentucky heading into the tournament, as they struggle to stop simple straight-line drives and gave up 97 points to an A&M team that averages 73 a game.