Kentucky men’s basketball (19-11, 10-7 SEC) suffered a 96-85 the Texas A&M Aggies (20-10, 10-7 SEC) inside Reed Arena in College Station, Texas. 

In the Cats’ second-to-last regular season game of the year, head coach Mark Pope rolled out his usual starting lineup: Otega Oweh, Denzel Aberdeen, Collin Chandler, Andrija Jelavic and Malachi Moreno. 

On Kentucky’s first try down, just four seconds into the contest, Oweh was fouled on a layup attempt, where he then went 2-2 at the free-throw line, kicking off the scoring.

Texas A&M’s Marcus Hill responded with a layup on the other end. 

At the first media timeout, the score read 11-11 while Oweh had six points, Chandler had three points and Mo Dioubate had two points.

Kentucky was shooting 3-4 (75%) from the field and 1-1 from deep. 

UK held the Aggies to no field goals over the course of 3:30, building a six-point 20-14 lead with over 10 minutes still left to play in the first half. 

During that stretch, Kentucky’s Brandon Garrison scored six straight UK points in less than two minutes, providing a spark off the bench, something that he has lacked throughout the course of this season. 

With less than 10 minutes left to go in the first half, Kentucky held a 24-18 advantage, breaking A&M’s full-court press and getting numerous points in transition. 

Kentucky built its lead to 12 points; however, the Aggies went on a 13-0 run and took a 31-30 lead. Texas A&M’s Ruben Dominguez nailed back-to-back 3-point field goals during that stretch, which ultimately forced a timeout by Pope. 

Out of the timeout, Aberdeen got the Cats back on the scoresheet with a layup, yet Texas A&M surged again and finished the first half on a 14-1 scoring run.

Kentucky trailed the Aggies 45-33 at the end of the first half, shooting 13-29 (44.8%) from the field and a grim 2-11 (18.2%) from downtown. 

Oweh and Aberdeen led the Cats with six points each. 

The Aggies opened the second half on an 8-2 scoring run, and by the first media timeout, they were leading UK 59-40, allowing the Aggies to shoot 3-3 from deep.

With 13:41 remaining in the game, UK was shooting 7-12 (58.3%) from the free-throw line, leaving a good chunk of points on the board, while continuing to falter on offense.

By the time there was a little over 11:00 to go, the Cats had already coughed up 10 total turnovers while the Aggies only surrendered three; Kentucky was trailing 70-52.

As Kentucky began to close the gap, Texas A&M kept responding with 3-point field goals, and when there was 8:43 remaining in the game, the Aggies were shooting 6-9 (66.7%) from deep in the second half, and 12-26 (46.2%) from deep overall.

With 4:29 remaining, Kentucky was trailing 82-66, however, a little over two minutes later, it went on a 7-0 scoring run, closing the A&M lead to just eight points. 

Unfortunately for the Cats though, the Aggies were able to fend off a late comeback and run away with the victory, strengthening their chances of earning an NCAA Tournament bid once Selection Sunday rolls around. 

Oweh finished the game with a game-high 24 points, while Dioubate sat not far behind with 19 points. No one else on UK reached double-digits.

Kentucky finished the night shooting 30-63 (47.6%) from the field and 8-26 (30.8%) from beyond the 3-point arch, while winning the rebound battle 41-38 and the assist battle 22-16.

 The Cats will return to Rupp Arena this Saturday, March 7, to host the No. 5 Florida Gators (23-6, 14-2 SEC) in their regular season finale. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. EST and will air live on ESPN.