No. 2 Kentucky men’s basketball came up short in its first game of the SEC Tournament against No. 7 Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals on Friday, losing 97-87.
The loss marked the second year in a row that the Cats tasted defeat in their first SEC Tournament contest.
The Cats entered the game on the back of a stellar season finale that saw them defeat No. 1 seeded Tennessee in Knoxville, avenging a loss at Rupp Arena earlier in the season in which Kentucky never led.
Looking to continue its strong form, UK brought out a starting lineup consisting of Justin Edwards, Antonio Reeves, D.J. Wagner, Adou Thiero and Ugonna Onyenso.
Quickly getting underway, things would not start as well as traveling Kentucky fans — which were in no short supply — would hope, with John Calipari calling a quick timeout after the Cats got down 8-1 to start the game.
With a plethora of substitutions, including the insertion of Rob Dillingham, Reed Sheppard and Zvonimir -, the Cats wouldn’t stay down for long, storming ahead and forcing Texas A&M Head Coach Buzz Williams to call a timeout.
Kentucky’s lead would be short-lived, however, as the Cats found themselves trailing by six once again with around seven minutes remaining in the first half.
Things would go from bad to worse as Texas A&M extended its lead as high as 11 points, but the Wildcats managed to rally back every single time, though they never had enough to retake the advantage.
This trend would continue as Wagner missed a 3-pointer that would have gotten UK back within four points, with UK trailing by seven at the break.
The start of the second half was the same old song and dance for the Cats as rallies kept UK in the contest, but never lasted long enough to see Calipari and Co. take the lead.
Before long, the gap once again reached double digits and then reached the biggest point it had been all game long.
Just when all seemed lost, Kentucky went on a run of its own, fueled by Rob Dillingham’s 24 points.
While Kentucky did enough to make it interesting, it was a familiar story as the runs put pressure on the Aggies, but were never enough to overcome the hump in the end.
With the loss Kentucky will await “Selection Sunday” where it will find out where and when it will take the court in the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA selection show will air at 6 p.m. ET and air live on CBS.
